Several days of dry conditions and strong winds in the area resulted in critical fire weather conditions and high fire danger. S.
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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.
Several days of dry conditions and strong winds in the area resulted in critical fire weather conditions and high fire danger. On April 10, 2021, the 140 Fire started in the Rio Chama bosque off of U.S. County Road 140 near Abiquiu. The fire burned for several days, and by April 22nd, firefighters had the fire 100 percent contained. The fire burned an estimated thirty acres with two structures burned and two houses damaged. The cause of the fire is unknown.
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 Apr 10, 10:54 AM MST, 2 hours 6 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1154 AM MDT Sat Apr 10 2021 .AVIATION... 18Z TAF CYCLE Breezy conditions are forecast to develop areawide this afternoon with the strongest gusts to 25 kts at KLVS. Across the western half of New Mexico, winds will remain more west to northwest as does the flow aloft. Just a few fair weather cumulus clouds are expected this afternoon with VFR conditions persisting through Sunday morning. 33 && .PREV DISCUSSION...247 AM MDT Sat Apr 10 2021... .SYNOPSIS... Very dry and breezy to windy conditions remain this weekend with a cool down across the eastern plains spreading to Roswell today, warming back up Sunday. A sharp change in the weather pattern arrives Monday with a backdoor cold front bringing a sharp cool down through eastern NM and east canyon winds to Santa Fe and Albuquerque overnight Sunday into Monday morning. An increase in low level moisture over eastern NM will bring chances for scattered daily showers and a stray storm mainly along and east of the central mountain chain Tuesday through the end of the week. Coverage looks to remain spotty with the best chances favoring the northern mountains. Dry, breezy, and warm weather holds its grip on areas west of the Rio Grande River Valley. && .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY)... An upper level low moving into the Missouri River valley sent a backdoor cold front into eastern NM yesterday and last night. This surface boundary is quickly losing momentum as it comes west toward the central mountain chain, but a brief easterly wind component may sneak into portions of the Rio Grande valley this morning. Surface dewpoints have undergone substantial rises behind the front, but this isn’t saying much, given how dry the antecedent airmass was. As the front stalls and washes out, surface winds will gradually veer south southwesterly in the plains by this afternoon with very dry air staying entrenched over western and central zones (surface dewpoints remaining below zero) while the plains struggle to retain relatively higher dewpoint readings (in the teens). High- based cumulus will likely take shape this afternoon, but they will likely be too few and flat to even produce any virga. As for temperatures, most zones will remain near to slightly above average today. The next upstream upper low will drop out of British Columbia/Alberta and into the Dakotas late Sunday. This will keep west northwest flow aloft intact over NM with another cold front sliding toward the northeast corner of the state late in the day. The front should hold off until after a full day of widespread above average warmth (5 to 15 degrees above average) can blanket the forecast area. A surface low will develop just ahead of, or south, of the surface cold front, and this should yield a tighter surface gradient with breezy to locally windy conditions across the area. With winds in the 700 to 500 mb layer generally running at only 20 to 30 kt Sunday, wind speeds at the surface are not expected to reach advisory levels. Batches of cirrus will increase late in the day, but the very low dewpoints and uncomfortably dry conditions at the surface will persist and expand. LONG TERM...(MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY)... A significant pattern change is still in- store to start the long term period next week, as a potent backdoor cold front surges through the eastern plains and the gaps of the central mountain chain early Monday morning. East canyon winds at Santa Fe and Albuquerque look likely, while boundary layer moisture will mercifully see Td’s rise into the teens and low 20s behind the front. It’s still dry, but not negative dewpoint dry. The real sensible weather change of note will be a sharp drop in temperatures east of the central mountain chain where MaxTs fall 10F- 20F, ranging from the upper 50s near the CO border to low 70s in Chaves County. Low level flow turns southerly over eastern NM, perhaps allowing for a stray shower to develop over the Sangre de Cristo’s late Monday. The better chances for shower/storm development will be Tuesday once Gulf moisture advection begins to enter the eastern plains, coinciding with the arrival of a short-wave trough. The moisture surge into the eastern plains continues into Wednesday morning where dewpoints rise into the low 40s, likely allowing for a bank of low clouds and fog to develop. Chances for precipitation are tricky Wednesday given temperatures remaining 10-15F below normal and model soundings showing a large capping inversion persisting through the day. However, showers and a stray storm are still possible over the northern mountains with upslope flow along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo’s and a large upper low parked over the Great Basin to Snake River Valley setting up southwest flow aloft over NM. As is not unusual this time of year, the swash-buckling of low level moisture over the eastern plains continues on through the rest of the week. Dry westerlies look to win the day Thursday, with the next backdoor cold front bringing moisture back to the east Friday. Areas west of the Rio Grande Valley through the long term look to remain fairly stable temperature wise with little hope for meaningful precipitation or moisture. 52/24 && .FIRE WEATHER... The threat for critical fire weather is expected to be more limited in the next couple to several days. The backdoor cold front in eastern NM today has brought increased dewpoints, but unfortunately this will not translate into any meaningful jumps in afternoon humidity. Wind directions will be shifting in the plains today, and overall speeds will just be breezy with notable reductions from the past few days. On Sunday, temperatures creep back several degrees above normal with dry (widespread sub-10% RH) air expanding eastward again. While wind speeds will increase some on Sunday, the areas experiencing critical speeds will generally be localized to spotty. Areas in the central to northeast highlands would appear to be at highest risk for critical conditions Sunday, but we will forego a Fire Weather Watch at this time due to the marginal areal coverage and duration of these potential critical conditions. The cold front arriving Sunday night into Monday will drop temperatures and boost RH sufficiently to preclude critical conditions in the eastern half of the state with winds just staying breezy in western zones. Into Tuesday a confluence of more moist south southeast flow and dry south southwest will meet to form a dryline in central NM. This should keep winds too low for critical conditions in western zones while showers and thunderstorms take shape in northern zones, eventually expanding into eastern areas on Wednesday as moisture potentially gets better rooted. Winds do appear to increase in northwestern zones on Wednesday, potentially reintroducing critical conditions, as dewpoints and RH will still be quite low in this area. Thursday will also have to be monitored, as the dryline will likely retreat back to the east toward the TX border, spelling lower RH form much of NM. 52 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 257 AM MDT Sat Apr 10 2021 NMZ201>241-111100- 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- 257 AM MDT Sat Apr 10 2021 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of north and central New Mexico. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight No hazardous weather is expected outside of spotty critical fire weather. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Elevated to critical fire weather likely Sunday afternoon. A potent backdoor cold front will bring east canyon winds to Albuquerque and Santa Fe Sunday night into Monday morning. Isolated to scattered showers and a stray thunderstorm will be possible each afternoon favoring the northern mountains and adjacent highlands Tuesday through Friday. Low clouds and fog may be possible over parts of the eastern plains Wednesday morning, causing reduced visibility. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to report strong winds or wildfires through the National Weather Service Albuquerque web site at weather.gov/abq or by calling 1.888.386.7637. You can also submit storm reports and photos on our Facebook page or via Twitter using the hashtag nmwx. 24
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The 140 Fire near Abiquiu burned an estimated thirty acres over the course of about twelve days. One garage and one well house were burned, and two houses were damaged. Damages are estimated for the four structures affected by the fire.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, April 2021
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: 946446.