April 10, 2022 marked the beginning of a very windy pattern for all of northern and central New Mexico as multiple storm systems tracked across the Rockies. With the storm track to the north of New Mexico, this opened the door for strong upper-level winds to be steered across the state.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
April 10, 2022 marked the beginning of a very windy pattern for all of northern and central New Mexico as multiple storm systems tracked across the Rockies. With the storm track to the north of New Mexico, this opened the door for strong upper-level winds to be steered across the state. With a persistent surface low pressure system and deep mixing also present, these winds were easily able to mix down to the surface. While westerly winds began to pick up on April 10th, most of the area measured winds of 40-50 mph. The exceptions were across the northeast and central highlands where wind gusts in excess of 60 mph were common. The highest wind gust recorded was at Raton which measured at 78 mph.
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, 4:26 AM MST, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 526 AM MDT Sun Apr 10 2022 .AVIATION... 12Z TAF CYCLE Lcl wly wind gusts around 40kt to persist with stronger gusts to around 45kt possible along the east slopes of the central mt chain. Lcl MVFR vsbys in BLDU in dust prone areas. Isold virga showers with gusty erratic winds possible aft 10/21Z along and west of I-25 and along and north of I-40 due to a modest increase in mid level moisture. && .PREV DISCUSSION...321 AM MDT Sun Apr 10 2022... ...STRONG WINDS AND WIDESPREAD CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE MIDWEEK PERIOD... .SYNOPSIS... A rather typical springtime pattern will setup across the northern two-thirds of New Mexico this week with strong winds and high fire danger being a concern. Strong winds and hazardous crosswinds will develop today, especially along and east of the central mountains. Precipitation chances will be meager, but gusty outflow winds from virga showers are possible. For Monday, the threat for strong winds will be in the western and northern mountains. The most widespread and strongest winds are likely on Tuesday when gusts may exceed 70 mph for some locales. Meanwhile, widespread fire weather conditions are likely during the afternoon hours. Any new or ongoing wildfires will have the ability to spread very rapidly and uncontrollably. It appears light showers and even a few thunderstorms could develop in the west central to northern parts of the state for Tuesday through Tuesday night. Snow accumulations will be relegated to the highest of elevations, or above 9,000 feet. Less wind for Thursday although still breezy with readings rebounding closer to mid-April normals. && .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...(SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY)... Winds will increase a bit more today, consequently have issued a Wind Advisory for portions of central and eastern NM for this afternoon. In addition, mid level moisture infiltrating the area may help initiate a few virga showers with gusty erratic winds for some areas along and north of I-40 this afternoon and evening. However, measurable precipitation may be hard to find from this activity. Today will be cooler over the north and west, but still above normal. The Roswell area may see near record high temperatures this afternoon. Monday's highs won't vary too much from today's. Winds will ramp up a category though, and expect another round of Wind Advisories for Monday afternoon, with potentially greater areal coverage than today's. LONG TERM...(MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)... Strong jet at the base of the upper level trough will start to work its way into the Great Basin and Four Corners area for Monday night. As a result, a 700hPa speed max near 80kts will be oriented across central AZ into northwest NM. This is approximately 3 to 4 standard deviations above normal per the NAEFS anomaly charts. Cross sections suggest decent mountain wave activity in the vicinity of the Chuska Mountains, and this will support windy conditions overnight. Strong ridgetop winds, but to a lesser degree, are also expected across the northern mountains. Vertical ascent and increasing moisture profiles will combine with orographic forcing to support rain/snow showers in the Tusas Mtns, especially along the western slopes. With that said, it appears the best chances will be focused near the CO border. Tuesday serves as a high-impact day over the CWA given the risk for damaging winds as the trough axis and associated Pacific cold front sweep across the area. Potent winds aloft will have the ability to mix down to the surface during peak mixing. Meanwhile, a robust 979 mb sfc low (per the GFS20) will develop within central Great Plains and this will support a rather tight sfc pressure gradient over the eastern plains. As a result, confidence remains rather elevated that High Wind Watches / Warnings will be needed for a large swath of the forecast area. For some perspective, NBM Version 4.1 guidance places the chances for 58+ mph wind gusts near 100% for Clines Corners, Las Vegas, Raton, Tucumcari and Clayton - just to name a few sites. The best precip chances will likely favor the late morning through mid/ late afternoon in advance of the cold front. Timing of the system is likely to limit the snowfall accumulations to the higher elevations. Sufficient instability should support a few lightning strikes during the afternoon hours, mainly in the north central mountains. Winds on Tuesday night will gradually weaken, but will remain gusty for areas along/east of the central mountain chain. Deep closed upper low will eject into the north central U.S. for the Wednesday time frame; however, breezy to windy conditions will likely persist for central and eastern NM. High temps will be 10-15 degrees below mid-April normals. Models track a slow-moving closed low across the PacNW on Thur, keeping NM in zonal flow. Interestingly, the model guidance suggests return flow over western TX and possibly eastern NM during this time, with the GFS20 being the most aggressive with upper 30s and 40s surface dewpoints advecting northward into the region. In looking at the meteograms, the deterministic GFS is a notable outlier compared to the GEFS as well as the ECWMF/Canadian ensembles and will not entertain the idea of dryline activity along the NM/TX border. For Friday through next weekend, cluster mean 500hPa analysis depict two primary solutions. The first suggests below normal anomalies over the Intermountain West, favoring below normal temps as an upper level trough and associated cold backdoor front invades eastern New Mexico for Sunday. Pcpn chances look meager and should anything develop, the northeast quadrant of the state would be the best bet. This solution accounts for approximately 50% of the ECWMF, GFS and Canadian members. The second cluster, which represents about 30% of the members, offers a more progressive eastward shift of the upr level trough with above normal height anomalies in the southwest U.S. Latest grids currently lean towards the first cluster. DPorter && .FIRE WEATHER... ...PROLONGED PERIOD OF WIDESPREAD CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE AT LEAST THROUGH MIDWEEK... A prolonged period of widespread critical fire weather conditions will continue through potentially the middle or latter part of this week as strong westerly flow dominates. Critical conditions are expected to rapidly develop this morning due to very poor overnight humidity recoveries and strengthening winds. In addition, modest mid level moisture infiltrating the region combined with a southward moving cool front could result in a few virga showers with gusty erratic winds but little to no rain over portions of central NM along and north of I-40 this afternoon and evening. A northeasterly wind shift will sag into far northeast NM this afternoon, although it may not make significant progress south and westward, there is potential for some erratic winds there as well. Models indicate the wind shift in northeast NM will make more progress south and westward tonight with potential for isolated sprinkles over northeast NM. The increase in humidity will be short lived as the surface lee trough becomes reestablished Monday. Strong winds and very dry conditions return by Monday afternoon, therefore a Red Flag Warning has been issued. Tuesday and Wednesday should be cooler, but Tuesday's winds may be the strongest, with westerly gusts to around 70 mph possible along and east of the central mountain chain. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms are possible Tuesday and Tuesday evening over the northwest and north central. Despite Tuesday's showers, Wednesday will be much drier with 5 to nearly 15 hours of single digit humidities forecast along and south of I-40. The potential for critical fire weather conditions doesn't appear to ease until late this week when a substantial cold front could plunge into the state. && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning from 9 AM this morning to 8 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ101>109. Red Flag Warning from noon to 9 PM MDT Monday for the following zones... NMZ101>109. Fire Weather Watch from Tuesday morning through Tuesday evening for the following zones... NMZ103-104-106>108. Wind Advisory from noon today to 6 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ215-223-226>229-231>234-237-239. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
An ASOS station near Raton measured a peak wind gust of 78 mph.
An ASOS station near Las Vegas measured a peak wind gust of 59 mph.
An ASOS station near Clines Corners measured a peak wind gust of 60 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, April 2022
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: 1008267, 1008268, 1008265.