As a surface high pressure developed to the east of New Mexico, it established easterly to southeasterly return flow across eastern New Mexico. However, on April 19th and April 20, 2022, a storm system tracking eastward across the central Rockies strengthened westerly flow aloft which quickly overtook the low-level return flow.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
As a surface high pressure developed to the east of New Mexico, it established easterly to southeasterly return flow across eastern New Mexico. However, on April 19th and April 20, 2022, a storm system tracking eastward across the central Rockies strengthened westerly flow aloft which quickly overtook the low-level return flow. This was aided by a lee-side surface low across northeastern New Mexico. With deep atmospheric mixing still in place across all of northern and central New Mexico, these stronger westerly winds mixed down to the surface. Most wind gusts across the area were generally between 40 and 50 mph, but wind gusts of 55 to 65 mph were measured at Clines Corners, Gallup, and Angel Fire. Unfortunately, a persistent critical fire weather pattern helped to spark the Calf Canyon Fire in Gallinas Canyon on the Santa Fe National Forest along U.S. Highway 65 on April 19, 2022.
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 19, 11:01 AM MST, 2 hours 24 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1201 PM MDT Tue Apr 19 2022 .AVIATION... 18Z TAF CYCLE Westerly wind gusts of 30 to 40 knots will be common this afternoon with areas near and downwind of mountain ranges observing the highest gust speeds to near 50 kts. Lcl BLDU is possible this afternoon into the early evening. Surface gusts will decrease somewhat after sunset, but the speeds aloft will continue to increase, bringing the likelihood for low level wind shear late tonight. Strongest winds Wednesday are forecast along/near and south of I-40. 33 && .PREV DISCUSSION...324 AM MDT Tue Apr 19 2022... .SYNOPSIS... Areas of critical fire weather conditions are expected daily for the rest of the week as winds remain gusty and humidities remain very low. High temperatures will also remain well above normal through Friday before cooling this weekend. The strongest west and southwest winds are forecast today and especially Friday, when many locations can expect gusts from 40 to 50 mph, except potentially around 60 mph along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains Friday afternoon. Precipitation chances look to increase in many locations Saturday night through Sunday night as a cold storm system moves overhead with rain showers, snow showers, and thunderstorms. Some fairly widespread freezing temperatures will be possible Saturday night and Sunday night. && .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... With surface high pressure established east of NM, return flow from the Gulf of Mexico is keeping low level moisture pushing northwestward into the eastern NM zones. Surface dewpoints in the 30’s had already made their way into the eastern plains with higher readings in the southeast quarter of the state, but readings could rise several degrees more through the late morning in this south southeasterly flow. Low clouds are already expanding across eastern zones, a trend that will continue through the post dawn hours with some drizzle or sprinkles not out of the question. As a shortwave trough moves into the Canadian Rockies, the flow aloft over the western ConUS will increase late today and more-so tonight. Warmer than average temperatures over most of the forecast area are expected today with deep vertical mixing and stronger winds will be transported down to the surface. A lee-side surface low will also deepen and broaden with low level moisture mixing eastward, much of it into west TX, but some east central to southeastern zones could retain 40’s dewpoints into the late afternoon. There will be some instability present, but likely insufficient to pop a stray thunderstorm before all the moisture mixes east of NM into the evening. The boost in wind speeds this afternoon has warranted a wind advisory for today and many northern zones were included from yesterday’s issuance. Winds aloft will increase more tonight, keeping ridge tops and peaks windy overnight. Into the daytime Wednesday, the aforementioned Canadian perturbation will be trekking east of the Rockies while a weaker shortwave moves in tandem over the central Rockies with a slight reduction in zonal flow over NM. Still, widespread breezy to windy conditions are anticipated, as temperatures warm a few degrees more in eastern zones and another surface low regenerates in northeastern NM. The central mountains and highlands would likely observe the highest gusts of 45 to 50 mph on Wednesday. Dewpoints will drop right back into the teens and single digits Wednesday afternoon as a prolific dry slot aloft continues feeding into the area. 52 LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)... Wind speeds are forecast to trend weaker overall Thursday, while remaining gusty and very dry. The strongest southwest winds are forecast from the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains eastward Thursday afternoon, where/when gusts to 40 mph will again be possible with more fire weather concerns. High temperatures will remain around 6 to 16 degrees above normal on Thursday, then some cooling will begin over western areas Friday. Friday looks to be the windiest day of the week with gusts to 50 mph common, except potentially around 60 mph along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. A speed maximum in the polar jet stream will cross the forecast area from the west Friday and Friday night, then the tail end of the speed max will linger over the eastern half of the forecast area on Saturday. There will also be a 985 mb surface low over eastern CO on Friday, but it is forecast to weaken and shift eastward by Saturday. With the jet core crossing aloft, and mechanical mixing provided by a sharp Pacific cold front, models keep surface winds quite strong through Friday evening with gusts to 50 mph potentially lingering in many locations past sunset. Weaker winds are then expected Saturday, but gusts from 40 to 50 mph still look likely along and east of the central valley. With widespread very low humidity, critical fire weather conditions are expected areawide Friday, then mainly along and east of the central valley Saturday. High temperatures will fall a few to several degrees below normal Saturday from the east slopes of the central mountain chain westward, while highs remain a few degrees above normal farther east. With a disturbance passing to our north, there will be a chance for light rain and snow showers near the CO border Friday night into Saturday. A deep upper level trough is now forecast to dig over the forecast area late Saturday night into Sunday with the potential for widespread rain showers, snow showers, and thunderstorms. Right now the NBM is keeping precipitation chances over northern areas, but recent deterministic model runs (which have yet to be incorporated into the NBM) indicate precipitation chances will increase over central areas and potentially southern areas as well. This system will draw a gusty backdoor cold front into the state providing some potentially significant low level convergence over central areas during the period of heaviest precipitation Sunday afternoon and night. After some fairly widespread freezing temperatures Saturday night and Sunday night, Monday should bring improving conditions as the day progresses and the storm system gradually exits eastward. With a ridge of high pressure crossing, Tuesday should bring warming temperatures and dry weather. However, a lee-side surface trough will probably cause south and southwest winds to be gusty along and east of the central mountain chain. 44 && .FIRE WEATHER... ...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER TO CONTINUE THROUGH MID WEEK WITH A SIGNIFICANT FIRE WEATHER EVENT LOOMING ON FRIDAY... Higher dewpoints will struggle to hold over east central NM this afternoon, and might keep humidity elevated enough to locally suppress the critical fire weather threat in Curry and Roosevelt counties. However, the remainder of the forecast area will largely be inundated by windy, dry and unstable conditions again today, and the Red Flag Warning will remain in effect. The northern half of the state will observe the strongest gusts of 40 to 45 mph (20 ft level) today. Many central areas of NM will observe poor humidity recoveries of 15 to 25 percent tonight into early Wednesday morning as winds aloft strengthen more. This will keep breezy to windy conditions going overnight, although speeds should be reduced from this afternoon’s speeds in many locations. Tonight’s conditions will help set the stage for more widespread critical conditions going into the daytime Wednesday as more unstable conditions redevelop by the afternoon. The northern tier of NM zones appear to see less wind on Wednesday, but much of the central corridor of the state will once again observe gusts of 35 to 45 mph. A reduction in winds is expected on Thursday before the next upstream weather disturbance moves close enough to influence NM weather, but breezy conditions will still be common with localized critical conditions unfolding, mostly over the northeast highlands to the far northeastern plains Thursday afternoon. Attention and concern is growing for a more significant fire weather event on Friday as a deep trough of low pressure is expected to cross the intermountain west and overtake the front range of the Rockies. Confidence is increasing for strong to possibly damaging winds along with very critically low humidity, warmer than normal temperatures and high Haines indices of 5 to 6 for Friday afternoon. 52 && && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ101>109. Wind Advisory until 7 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ201>207-210>212-216-218-222-227>230-233. Fire Weather Watch from Wednesday morning through Wednesday evening for the following zones... NMZ103>109. Wind Advisory until 6 AM MDT Wednesday for the following zones... NMZ213>215-221-223. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind, 1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
An ASOS station near Clines Corners measured several hours of high wind speeds with a peak wind gust of 60 mph.
An ASOS station near Gallup measured a peak wind gust of 64 mph.
While daily rounds of widespread high fire danger persisted across northern and central New Mexico throughout the month of April, conditions were primed for rapid wildfire growth. The Calf Canyon Fire was sparked on April 19, 2022, near Gallinas Canyon. The wildfire experienced its most rapid growth on April 22nd as a historic and catastrophic fire weather pattern developed across New Mexico. With several hours of widespread 60 to 80 mph wind gusts, the Calf Canyon Fire exploded. This prompted the National Weather Service Albuquerque Office to issue a rare Fire Weather Warning for mandatory evacuations across western San Miguel and Mora counties. By the morning of April 23rd, it was reported that the Calf Canyon Fire had merged with the nearby Hermits Peak Fire, and together, these two fires had burned more than 42,000 acres. A week later, on April 29th, yet another widespread dangerous wind event caused the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires to continue to rapidly spread. This prompted another set of mandatory evacuations across western San Miguel County and the issuance of another rare Fire Weather Warning. By the end of the month of April 30th, the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak wildfires had burned a combined 103,908 acres with 30 percent containment. The Calf Canyon Fire may not be fully contained until July 2022. Up until this point of the fire season, the Calf Canyon Fire has been the most devastating for New Mexico. It is estimated that many homes and structures have been destroyed as citizens come forward with stories about losing everything they have. However, at this time, there is no estimate on how much has been lost as officials have been unable to do official surveys. Damages are estimated.
An AWOS station near Angel Fire measured a peak wind gust of 61 mph.
An ASOS station near Clines Corners measured a peak sustained wind speed of 44 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: 1008877, 1008878, 1012058, 1009644, 1009643.