After several days of well above normal temperatures for early December, a strong backdoor cold front moving through eastern New Mexico late on December 5, 2021, brought cooler temperatures as well as strong gusty winds. The strongest wind gusts were recorded in the counties bordering the New Mexico and Texas state line.
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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.
After several days of well above normal temperatures for early December, a strong backdoor cold front moving through eastern New Mexico late on December 5, 2021, brought cooler temperatures as well as strong gusty winds. The strongest wind gusts were recorded in the counties bordering the New Mexico and Texas state line. While these wind gusts were generally below 50 mph, brief high wind of near 60 mph was briefly measured at Cannon Air Force Base in Curry County.
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 Dec 5, 5:04 PM MST, 4 hours 59 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 504 PM MST Sun Dec 5 2021 .AVIATION... 00Z TAF CYCLE West and northwest winds will subside tonight in the west, but a pretty strong back door cold front will bring gusty north to northeast winds across the east tonight, strongest on the eastern plains. Gusts of 35-40kts will occasionally occur for a couple of hours behind the front at KTCC. The front will push west through the central mountain chain early Monday morning, bringing a gusty east canyon/gap wind around 20kts to KABQ and KSAF. Patches of MVFR conditions in low stratus may develop behind the front early Monday morning along the east slopes of the central mountain chain and may impact KLVS, but probability is too low to include in TAF at this time. && .PREV DISCUSSION...221 PM MST Sun Dec 5 2021... .SYNOPSIS... A gusty cold front will move into eastern New Mexico tonight, resulting in breezy to windy conditions for areas near the Texas border as well as a gusty east canyon wind for the Albuquerque area. Much cooler temperatures are expected Monday in the wake of this front, but temperatures will quickly rebound through mid-week. A couple weak storm systems may bring light precipitation to portions of western and northern New Mexico Tuesday and Wednesday, but more wind than rain or snow may be more likely. However, a stronger storm system arriving by Friday looks to bring welcome precipitation to the area along with colder temperatures. && .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT)... The jet stream is diving southeast across the Intermountain West and is resulting in a deepening lee side trough and notably increased winds this afternoon across northern NM. A Wind Advisory remains in effect for the central highlands through 5PM MST. Downslope warming is resulting in well above normal temperatures across much of central and eastern NM this afternoon, with a few locales challenging daily record highs. A modest backdoor cold front is headed down the front range of CO and will race down the eastern plains of NM overnight, with windy conditions behind it and decent cold air advection. A few eastern plains locales near the TX/OK borders may hit wind advisory threshold for an hour or two immediately behind the fropa, but will be on the low end of advisory. The front will push into central valleys late tonight through early Monday morning, creating a gusty east canyon/gap wind for a few hours. Monday's highs behind the front across the eastern plains will be 25-30 degrees colder than today's and generally 5-10 degrees below normal for a change. High temperatures will remain 5- 15 degrees above normal west of the front. Windy conditions will develop Monday afternoon across northeast NM as the surface high slides off to the east. The westerlies will be on the uptrend Monday night in advance of an approaching upper level trough, bringing increased clouds and keeping the lower boundary layer at least partially mixed. 11 LONG TERM...(TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY)... A more active week still looks to be ahead as a couple different storm systems impact the area. By Tuesday, a closed low will be positioning itself off the coast of SoCal while a shortwave racing southeastward through the central Rockies clips northern NM. The moisture associated with this shortwave gets rung out on its journey across the Rockies so that by the time it arrives to northern NM, it's moisture starved. Rain and mountain snow showers will still be possible, but just across the northwest quadrant of the area. However, liquid precipitation totals are likely to remain below 0.15-0.10". This disturbance does have an associated Pacific and backdoor cold front, but guidance has largely backed off on the backdoor cold front which looks to barely move into Union and Colfax counties before it's lost. It's the Pacific front that will largely be responsible for Tuesday night's chillier temperatures, but temperatures will be quick to rebound on Wednesday with above normal highs areawide. This is especially true for the eastern plains where a lee-side surface low and strengthening westerly flow will result in breezy to windy downsloping winds. Another weak shortwave near the NM/CO border may again result in some light shower activity across the northern mountains. The latter half of the week then looks to become much more active. As a cold trough deepens across the west, flow aloft will become southwesterly over the area. This allows the aforementioned SoCal low and its moisture to be absorbed and move inland into the desert SW. Precipitation will likely begin across the west early Friday, becoming more widespread as it spreads eastward throughout the day. As the trough tracks eastward across northern NM Friday night, it's associated Pacific cold front will usher in much colder air which drops snow levels to valley floors. There's also a backdoor cold front associated with this system as well, but it's timing doesn't appear to be ideal. By the time it arrives to eastern NM late Friday night, precipitation will likely be coming to an end. If current model trends hold, this system could bring some welcome precipitation across the area with a few to several inches of snow for the mountains. The other component to this late week system will be the wind. 700mb winds first start to strengthen Thursday night ahead of the system's arrival with winds of 50 knots to start with along the central mountain chain. This will likely result in some windy conditions along mountaintops and the possibility for mountain wave activity into Friday morning. The strong winds aloft along the central mountain chain continue into Friday, but strengthen more over the Sacramento Mountains with 50-70 knots at 700mb. This will all likely lead to very strong downsloping winds along and east of the central mountain chain through Friday. Below normal high temperatures with drier conditions are expected on Saturday in the wake of the departing system. Temperatures warm closer to normal on Sunday as a weak ridge moves overhead. 15 && .FIRE WEATHER... ...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT TODAY FOR THE EAST CENTRAL PLAINS... The jet stream is diving southeast across the Intermountain West and is resulting in a deepening lee side trough and notably increased winds this afternoon across northern NM. A Wind Advisory remains in effect for the central highlands through 5PM MST. Downslope warming is resulting in well above normal temperatures across much of central and eastern NM this afternoon, with a few locales challenging daily record highs. A modest backdoor cold front is headed down the front range of CO and will race down the eastern plains of NM overnight, with windy conditions behind it and decent cold air advection. A few eastern plains locales near the TX/OK borders may hit wind advisory threshold for an hour or two immediately behind the fropa, but will be on the low end of advisory. The front will push into central valleys late tonight through early Monday morning, creating a gusty east canyon/gap wind for a few hours. Monday's highs behind the front across the eastern plains will be 25-30 degrees colder than today's and generally 5-10 degrees below normal for a change. High temperatures will remain 5- 15 degrees above normal west of the front. Windy conditions will develop Monday afternoon across northeast NM as the surface high slides off to the east. The westerlies will be on the uptrend Monday night in advance of an approaching upper level trough, bringing increased clouds and keeping the lower boundary layer at least partially mixed. 11 && .AVIATION... 18Z TAF CYCLE 11 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 423 AM MST Sun Dec 5 2021 NMZ201>241-061200- 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- 423 AM MST Sun Dec 5 2021 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of north and central New Mexico. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Red Flag conditions are expected from late morning through the afternoon across the east central plains, where wind gusts up to 40 mph are expected with very low humidities and record high temperatures. Gusts up to 50 mph are forecast around Clines Corners, but humidities should remain above 15 percent there. Blowing dust may result in brief periods of significant visibility reduction in the Clines Corners area impacting I-40 and US Highway 285. Tonight, a powerful backdoor cold front will plunge southward through the eastern plains with north and northeast wind gusts around 50 mph from around Clayton southward to around Clovis. Periods of significant visibility reduction in blowing dust will be possible due to the very dry conditions. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday Thursday afternoon through Friday night, a couple of vigorous disturbances will cross in succession from the west northwest with the potential for a few to several inches of snow accumulation in the mountains and at lower elevations of north central and western New Mexico. The mountains near the Colorado border should fair best with potentially over a foot of snow. There will also be a risk of strong west and southwest winds in many locations. The strongest winds could reach 50-65 mph along and just east of the central mountain chain, and eastward along the I-40 corridor, late Thursday night until mid day Friday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated. 44
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
An ASOS station at Cannon Air Force Base measured a brief wind gust of 59 mph.
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, December 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: 988160.