A potent back door cold front pushed quickly south through eastern New Mexico on May 7, 2020 as strong surface high pressure shifted down the Front Range. A brief burst of high winds impacted the area from near Clayton to Tucumcari where gusts up to 58 mph were reported.
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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.
The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.
A potent back door cold front pushed quickly south through eastern New Mexico on May 7, 2020 as strong surface high pressure shifted down the Front Range. A brief burst of high winds impacted the area from near Clayton to Tucumcari where gusts up to 58 mph were reported. Patchy blowing dust behind the cold front reduced visibility across parts of the area to below five miles.
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 May 7, 4:49 PM MST, 2 hours 11 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 549 PM MDT Thu May 7 2020 .AVIATION... 00Z TAF CYCLE Gusty west-northwest winds will continue through this afternoon. An Airport Weather Warning (AWW) remains in effect for the ABQ Sunport until 02Z, but it appears the persistent altostratus bifurcating the state has limited peak wind potential from KGUP-KABQ-KTCC. Meanwhile, a strong backdoor cold front currently in northeast NM will proceed south thru the eastern plains of NM. One concern will be a rapid wind shift with the passage of the front. Strong pressure gradient will support gusts as high as 40kts in its wake. Gap winds will also be a concern within the Rio Grande Valley, or for the KABQ-KSAF terminals, late tonight through Friday morning. Another AWW may be required for KABQ as a result. DPorter && .PREV DISCUSSION...357 PM MDT Thu May 7 2020... .SYNOPSIS... Strong northwest winds and hazardous fire weather conditions will continue through the early evening hours. For the remainder of the evening and overnight hours, the stronger winds will be focused in the eastern plains behind a cold front. This front will squeeze its way through the central mountain chain, resulting in gusty winds on Friday morning below canyons. High temperatures on Friday will be notably colder, or 15 to 30 degrees lower compared to Thursday. The cool pattern will be short-lived as readings rebound closer to mid- May normals. Isolated drier thunderstorms will be possible Saturday across the Upper Gila and along and immediate east of the Sangres. Precipitation chances ramp-up for Sunday through Monday as moisture increases and a weather disturbance moves through the state. The pattern will turn drier for Tuesday and Wednesday; however, gusty winds and low relative humidity may result in a return of hazardous fire weather conditions for the eastern plains. && .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT)... Strong west and northwest winds will weaken with sunset, except along the far eastern plains, where a backdoor cold front will dive southwestward overnight with north and northeast wind gusts around 50 mph. The front will push through gaps in the central mountain chain with a gusty east canyon wind from Santa Fe southward through Albuquerque and Carrizozo late tonight into early Friday morning. The strongest winds on Friday morning should occur in Albuquerque, where gusts to 50 mph will be possible below Tijeras Canyon. A moist, low-level, southeasterly return flow behind the front will increase humidities on Friday. There will be a slight chance of gusty and dry thunderstorms over the southwest mountains Friday afternoon and early evening, where instability will be the greatest. Otherwise, high temperatures are expected to fall a few to 29 degrees on Friday from today's readings. Winds will also weaken most places, except for the aforementioned east canyon wind and gusty thunderstorms. 44 LONG TERM...(SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY)... The upper level pattern on Saturday will feature northwest flow for NM with a ridge axis positioned across the PacNW to northern Mexico. Low level moisture will start to advect northward into southwest NM and southeast AZ. This limited moisture in combination with daytime instability will result in dry t-storm potential for the Upper Gila region. The main forecast question attm is how far north this risk will spread into the CWA, as there is quiet a bit of spread in the deterministic guidance. The drier solution has been favored at this time. Meanwhile, another, albeit weaker backdoor front will slide into northeast NM by late morning and eventually through the plains and towards the Continental Divide during the afternoon and evening hours. Cannot rule out an isolated shower due to orographic upslope along the eastern slopes of the Sangres, but confidence is low. On Sunday, moisture advection continues while the upr ridge rolls eastward. Models are rather consistent with a shortwave moving over AZ and into western NM by late in the daytime hours. The NBM shows notable increases in PoPs and saw no significant reason to deviate other than to enhance activity over the higher terrain. This upper level feature will gradually shift eastward Sunday night-Monday. It appears a backdoor front will be draped over northeast, or possibly east central, NM Monday into Monday night, and this will likely be an enhanced focus for precipitation with decent low-level moisture advection forecast south of the front. For this reason, decided to push PoPs slightly above NBM guidance across this region. Drier weather returns across the entire forecast area on Tuesday as southwest flow dominates the pattern. Moisture will be scoured out and winds may be a bit breezy during this period. This could result in critical fire weather for parts of the eastern plains. It looks like a repeat for Wednesday. A rather sharp dryline gradient should set-up during this period, but feel the GFS has a better handle on its position -- well east of the CWA. DPorter && .FIRE WEATHER... Strong west and northwest winds will weaken with sunset, except along the far eastern plains, where a back door cold front will dive southwestward overnight with north and northeast wind gusts around 50 mph. The front will push through gaps in the central mountain chain with a gusty east canyon wind from Santa Fe southward through Albuquerque and Carrizozo late tonight into early Friday morning. The strongest winds on Friday morning should occur in Albuquerque, where gusts to 50 mph will be possible below Tijeras Canyon. A moist, low-level, southeasterly return flow behind the front will increase humidities on Friday. There will be a slight chance of gusty and dry thunderstorms over the southwest mountains Friday afternoon and early evening, where instability will be the greatest. Otherwise, high temperatures are expected to fall a few to 29 degrees on Friday from today's readings. Winds will also weaken most places, except for the aforementioned east canyon wind and gusty thunderstorms. 44 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 8 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ101>109. Wind Advisory until 7 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ212>215-218-219-221>223-228-229-232-233-237. Wind Advisory until 4 AM MDT Friday for the following zones... NMZ231-234>236. Wind Advisory until 4 AM MDT Friday for the following zones... NMZ230. && 46
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 433 PM MDT Thu May 7 2020 NMZ201>241-081200- Northwest Plateau-Chuska Mountains-Far Northwest Highlands- Northwest Highlands-West Central Plateau-West Central Mountains- West Central Highlands-Southwest Mountains- San Francisco River Valley-Tusas Mountains Including Chama- Jemez Mountains-Glorieta Mesa Including Glorieta Pass- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains- East Slopes Sangre de Cristo Mountains-Upper Rio Grande Valley- Espanola Valley-Santa Fe Metro Area- Middle Rio Grande Valley/Albuquerque Metro Area- Lower Rio Grande Valley-Sandia/Manzano Mountains Including Edgewood- Estancia Valley-Central Highlands-South Central Highlands- Upper Tularosa Valley-South Central Mountains- Johnson and Bartlett Mesas Including Raton Pass- Far Northeast Highlands-Northeast Highlands-Union County- Harding County-Eastern San Miguel County-Guadalupe County- Quay County-Curry County-Roosevelt County-De Baca County- Chaves County Plains-Eastern Lincoln County-Southwest Chaves County- San Agustin Plains and Adjacent Lowlands- 433 PM MDT Thu May 7 2020 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of north and central New Mexico. .DAY ONE...Tonight Windy, unstable and extremely dry conditions will continue through the early evening hours. A Red Flag Warning remains in effect until 8 PM MDT. Strong west-northwest winds continue late this afternoon for most locales along and east of the Sangre de Cristo and Sandia/ Manzano Mountains, as well as the Albuquerque and Santa Fe metros. This activity should diminish by early evening; however, a backdoor cold front will bring strong winds in its wake this evening through the overnight for the far eastern plains. A Wind Advisory has been issued for this region through 4 AM MDT. Strong gap winds will also develop late tonight and continue into Friday morning. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Chances for storms will increase Sunday into Monday, with the potential for a few strong to severe storms, mainly east of the central mountain chain. A dryline may trigger a few more strong to severe storms across the eastern plains late Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated. 46
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A brief wind gust up to 58 mph was reported at Clayton.
A brief wind gust up to 58 mph was reported at Tucumcari.
Cannon AFB reported sustained wind speeds between 40 mph and 48 mph for a couple hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, May 2020
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: 880674, 880675, 880676.