New Mexico, 2018Dense Fog in New Mexico, September 28, 2018
September 28, 2018 · NWS ABQ · 1 event in 1 county or zone
Areas of dense fog developed over the Texas Panhandle and within portions of the Pecos Valley of New Mexico during the early morning hours of September 28th. Visibility was reported below an eighth of a mile in a couple locations within De Baca and Chaves counties.
- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Areas of dense fog developed over the Texas Panhandle and within portions of the Pecos Valley of New Mexico during the early morning hours of September 28th. Visibility was reported below an eighth of a mile in a couple locations within De Baca and Chaves counties. A woman and her one-year old son were killed by a semi trailer while attempting to cross the south bound lanes of U.S. 285 at mile marker 96 south of Roswell. The two were pronounced dead at the scene. Fog and low visibility were noted as factors in the accident.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Albuquerque, NM wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 28, 5:06 AM MST, 54 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 28, 5:06 AM MST, 54 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
606 AM MDT Fri Sep 28 2018
.AVIATION...
12Z TAF CYCLE
Areas of low clouds and fog will continue to produce MVFR and IFR
conditions until mid morning from the Caprock southward and as far
west as the Pecos River. A gusty back door cold front is also
forecast to dive southwestward through the northeast plains during
the morning and into the east central plains around mid day. Behind
the front low clouds should be able to produce low VFR and MVFR
conditions across the northeast plains. Flight category restrictions
will then spread to more of the eastern plains tonight. The moisture
looks fairly shallow though, and the model guidance is not bringing
it up to the elevation of LVS. Enough uncertainty exists that this
forecast put a scattered low cloud deck at LVS, hedging that the
moisture may reach there after all. The front is also forecast to
produce east wind gusts up to 30 kt below canyons opening into the
central valley from SAF to ABQ and around Carrizozo tonight.
44
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION...328 AM MDT Fri Sep 28 2018...
.SYNOPSIS...
Warm and dry weather will be the rule through this weekend as higher
pressure builds over NM. The one exception is in the northeast today
and southeast Saturday. A potent back door cold front will drop into
northeast NM today, then race south and west tonight. The northeast
will be much cooler today and the southeast a little cooler Saturday.
Everyone will be toasty warm Sunday. The weather will be more
challenging next week as we deal with major Hurricane Rosa. It still
appears Rosa will be a glancing blow to west and northwest NM early
next week. A couple of closed lows in the far west mid and later
next week could bring widespread precipitation to northern and
central NM.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
It was gorgeous Thursday and today will be just as nice with lots of
sunshine and warm temperatures, except over the northeast quarter of
the state. A back door cold will arrive in far northeast NM around
sunrise and move south and west today into tonight. It will be a dry
front but highs will be noticeably cooler in the far northeast,
around 23 degrees lower at Clayton compared to Thursday. The front
will continue south and west tonight, spilling into the Rio Grande
Valley around dark. Canyon winds will average 15 to 25 mph with
gusts to 35 mph. Elsewhere it will be mainly clear and more tranquil
aside from possible low clouds and a little fog in the northeast
Saturday morning.
The weekend will also be warm and dry, although the southeast plains
will be a little cooler Saturday. It will be breezy in the northeast
Saturday otherwise winds will be light to occasionally moderate.
Sunshine will be prevalent both days. An all around great weather
weekend.
More active, unsettled weather is forecast for next week, due to the
remnants of Hurricane Rosa early in the week and a deep trough and
closed low later next week. The GFS continues to be consistent with
bringing Rosa's remains quickly northward, reaching Baja CA Monday,
moving into AZ Monday night and crossing the four corners region
Tuesday. In this scenario the west and northwest would be primarily
impacted from Rosa. While there could be heavy rain and isolated
flash flooding, partly due to the rock hard ground, northwest New
Mexico could use the rain as they remain in an exceptional drought.
The other models are a little slower with the storm, but are much
closer to the GFS speed of the storm.
A closed low is forecast to move into CA Wednesday. It will open up
into a trough of lower pressure and sweep across NM Thursday. A
decent area of showers and storms are forecast for Wednesday, perhaps
easing some on Thursday. Yet another big closed low will drop south
into CA later next week, possibly bringing another swath of
precipitation next Friday into the following weekend.
CHJ
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
A ridge of high pressure building west of NM will weaken as it
migrates eastward over the state this weekend. High temperatures
through the weekend will vary from a few to around 10 degrees above
normal, except for readings around 11 to 21 degrees below normal
across northeast and east central areas this afternoon. A gusty
back door cold front will dive southwestward through the eastern
plains today, then into the central valley tonight with east canyon
wind gusts up to 30 mph in Albuquerque, and up to 25 mph in Santa Fe
and Carrizozo. Areas of poor ventilation are expected today in the
central valley from Albuquerque southward, and across far northeast
areas behind the back door cold front.
An upper level trough crossing the northern Rockies will begin to
draw subtropical moisture northward over western NM with a chance
for showers and thunderstorms there starting Sunday night. The
chance for showers and thunderstorms will spread to include central
areas and portions of the eastern plains Monday and Tuesday as an
upper level low pressure system entering the western US draws the
remnants of Hurricane Rosa over AZ, UT, CO and the Four Corners
region of NM. Areas along and west of the continental divide should
receive a quarter to over three quarters of an inch of rainfall
Monday and Tuesday, with lighter rain amounts across the rest of
central and western NM. With the rain will come cooler temperatures
across the west, where highs will drop near normal to as much as 7
degrees above normal. There will also be pockets of poor ventilation
across northwest areas Monday and Tuesday. Across the northeast,
southwest winds will become breezy to windy Tuesday due to a stout
lee trough and stronger flow aloft associated with Rosa's remnant
upper level trough.
Models differ somewhat on timing, but they depict the upper level
low pressure system over the western US opening into a trough as it
tracks gradually eastward across the central and southern Rockies
through mid week. A moderate tap of subtropical moisture is forecast
to continue in the wake of Rosa's remnants, with additional rainfall
forecast for parts of New Mexico Wednesday through Thursday night.
44
&&
.ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&
Dense Fog, Chaves County Plains
- When
- September 28, 6:00 AM MST to 6:01 AM MST
- Where
- Chaves County Plains forecast zone
- Deaths
- 0 direct, 2 indirect
- Injuries
- 0 direct, 1 indirect
- Reported by
- Broadcast Media
Several media outlets and NMDOT reported that a woman and her one-year old son were killed by a semi trailer while crossing the south bound lanes of U.S. 285 at mile marker 96 south of Roswell. The driver of the semi trailer also was injured in the crash. Dense fog was noted as a factor in the crash.
- Dense Fog
- Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
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NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 776881.