Strong westerly winds aloft overshooting the central mountain chain of NM reached the surface at Clines Corners on December 5, 2022, resulting in strong wind gusts of 58 to 63 mph.
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The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.
Strong westerly winds aloft overshooting the central mountain chain of NM reached the surface at Clines Corners on December 5, 2022, resulting in strong wind gusts of 58 to 63 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 Dec 5, 4:34 AM MST, 6 hours 13 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 434 AM MST Mon Dec 5 2022 ...New AVIATION... .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 115 AM MST Mon Dec 5 2022 Some dense fog is likely over the Rio Grande and Estancia valleys Monday morning, before burning off as drier air pushes in from the north. Valley showers and mountain snow begin for some of the northern and western areas as early as this evening, in particular the Tusas. This is due to the next storm system slowly moving east from California. This system will impact most of northern and western New Mexico on Wednesday with some breezy conditions across the eastern plains. The system departs Thursday morning with mainly dry conditions and near average temperatures in its wake. Potential for some wind across the east this weekend, and precipitation chances across the northern mountain Sunday from a possible weak system. && .SHORT TERM... (Today through Tuesday) Issued at 115 AM MST Mon Dec 5 2022 No you are not reading the observations wrong. The dewpoint really is in the 40s at ABQ Sunport, 47 to be exact. In December. With patchy dense fog in the valleys. Yes it's hard to believe but when you get a good plume of moisture from the Pacific and record breaking PWAT values on the evening sounding then this is what you get. Grounds are soaked for New Mexico standards. Saturated airmass that cools quickly at night. Fog thickens up pretty quickly. And it will be slow to erode. Water vapor imagery shows the mid/upper level moisture pushing east so the nighttime microphysics RGB for GOES east is starting to show those low clouds and fog. Overall thinking is that it will take some time for the westerly winds to develop today so fog is forecast through the morning hours before eroding. Dense fog advisories will be allowed to expire as conditions improve. We should get some slightly drier air into the region later today into Tuesday. We might have one more night of fog and low clouds but moisture levels should be decreasing into mid week. Water vapor imagery this morning also shows a potent upper low off the northern coast of California. This system will be pushing across the southern Rockies Wednesday into Thursday. Until then, strong W/SW flow aloft will continue. There might be a weak shortwave trough that moves by the four corners to support some rain/snow showers late Tuesday but just looking at some light precip amounts. && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday night through Sunday) Issued at 115 AM MST Mon Dec 5 2022 Warmer than average temperatures for early December continue Tuesday night, with lows still 10-15 degrees above average thanks to southwesterly flow ahead of a slow moving upper level trough in Southern California. Lower elevations showers and mountain snow increase in coverage across western and northern New Mexico on Wednesday, as the trough makes better eastward progress towards the Four Corners. Temperatures will cool across these zones as well due to the extra cloud cover and cooling upper levels in association with the trough. Still 5-10 degrees above average across the east due to southwest surface flow ahead of the upper level trough. Breezy to locally windy conditions are anticipated due to the presence of a surface lee trough/low across SE Colorado. There is a slight potential for some light shower activity across the southeast plains Wednesday afternoon and night,as the subtropical plume of moisture ahead of the upper level trough makes some northeast progress. Colder air makes more eastward progress to the central mountain chain Wednesday night, as the upper level trough clips northern NM with temperatures just a few degrees above average. End of the precip on Thursday for the northern mountains is still a little uncertain due to the speed of the upper level trough. GFS is the fastest with precip ending Thursday morning, while the Canadian is the slowest with precip ending Thursday afternoon. The ECMWF is in between the two. Decided to stick with the NBM in this case which leans more towards the GFS. High temperatures on Thursday across the northern mountains will be highly dependent on how quickly the clouds clear up. Meanwhile, typical breezy to locally windy northwest winds will occur over the central highlands and east central plains behind the upper level trough, with temperatures cooling down to near average. Thursday night will definitely feel colder compared to previous nights with shortwave ridging overhead, light winds, and the typical valley inversions. Some high clouds will temper lows somewhat, which are expected to bottom out near average. Highs will be around average areawide on Friday, with some breezy to locally windy conditions across the east central and northeast plains due to a weak surface lee trough/low. The next upper level trough and associated Pacific cold front passage late Friday into Saturday is expected to be a dry one, as the base of the trough remains too far north of New Mexico. It will provide just some breezy to locally windy west winds along the east slopes of the central mountain chain and central highlands on Saturday. The 2nd half of the weekend has low confidence currently as both deterministic and ensemble models are mixed with a trailing shortwave trough passing through northern portions of the state providing some winter precipitation for the mountains. Given the uncertainty, just went with the NBM and details will become more clear as we get closer. Beyond that, potential exists for a deep Pacific upper level trough to impact the Western US and New Mexico with wind and winter precipitation come the middle of the month. However, still lots of time for changes! && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 428 AM MST Mon Dec 5 2022 Dense fog is still the issue for KABQ, KAEG and KSAF. KFMN trying to get into the game with fog developing as skies clear. Satellite imagery shows some clearing from west to east as high/mid level clouds stream out of the region. Winds are beginning to crank up across the east for KLVS, KTCC, and KROW. Winds may become more of an issue for these areas later this afternoon. Low confidence on whether fog will redevelop tonight but something to mention given the moisture levels in the boundary layer. 39 && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 115 AM MST Mon Dec 5 2022 Valley fog this morning will be slow to erode and it will likely take SW/W winds to mix down in the boundary layer to allow for some drying. Winds do pick up out of the west this afternoon with some windy conditions east of the central mountains and highlands. Humidity levels will be high enough to not worry about any fire weather concerns but it will take through the end of the week in the Thur/Fri time frame that humidity drops below 20 percent in NE NM with RH around 25 to 35 percent most areas. Winds are also expected to pick up Thur/Fri but not seeing any critical conditions develop. RFTI values for Thur/Fri just support elevated fire conditions in E NM and those areas are pretty isolated. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 53 34 50 33 / 5 5 5 50 Dulce........................... 49 29 45 26 / 20 50 40 60 Cuba............................ 50 32 47 29 / 0 0 5 20 Gallup.......................... 52 33 48 30 / 0 5 10 20 El Morro........................ 49 31 46 29 / 0 0 0 10 Grants.......................... 55 29 50 25 / 0 0 0 10 Quemado......................... 55 31 50 30 / 0 0 0 5 Magdalena....................... 57 35 54 34 / 0 0 0 0 Datil........................... 53 32 49 30 / 0 0 0 0 Reserve......................... 57 31 53 30 / 5 0 0 10 Glenwood........................ 60 38 57 38 / 10 0 0 10 Chama........................... 43 26 39 25 / 30 60 60 60 Los Alamos...................... 50 33 46 33 / 0 0 0 20 Pecos........................... 51 32 46 32 / 0 0 0 5 Cerro/Questa.................... 46 30 42 28 / 5 20 10 20 Red River....................... 42 24 39 22 / 5 20 10 20 Angel Fire...................... 44 25 41 23 / 5 30 20 20 Taos............................ 50 28 46 27 / 5 10 5 20 Mora............................ 53 31 50 28 / 0 0 0 10 Espanola........................ 57 33 53 33 / 0 0 0 20 Santa Fe........................ 51 33 46 33 / 0 0 0 10 Santa Fe Airport................ 54 30 49 30 / 0 0 0 10 Albuquerque Foothills........... 56 38 51 38 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 59 36 53 35 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 61 35 55 34 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 59 36 54 35 / 0 0 0 5 Belen........................... 62 32 57 31 / 5 0 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 60 35 54 35 / 0 0 0 5 Bosque Farms.................... 61 32 56 31 / 0 0 0 0 Corrales........................ 60 36 54 35 / 0 0 0 5 Los Lunas....................... 61 32 56 32 / 0 0 0 0 Placitas........................ 55 36 50 36 / 0 0 0 5 Rio Rancho...................... 59 36 53 35 / 0 0 0 5 Socorro......................... 64 36 59 35 / 20 0 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 50 34 47 35 / 0 0 0 5 Tijeras......................... 52 34 49 34 / 0 0 0 0 Edgewood........................ 53 32 50 30 / 0 0 0 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 55 28 52 28 / 0 0 0 0 Clines Corners.................. 52 32 49 30 / 0 0 0 0 Mountainair..................... 54 33 51 32 / 0 0 0 0 Gran Quivira.................... 56 34 53 35 / 0 0 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 60 41 57 40 / 10 0 0 5 Ruidoso......................... 56 40 53 38 / 10 0 0 5 Capulin......................... 58 28 53 28 / 0 0 0 0 Raton........................... 61 26 56 25 / 0 0 0 0 Springer........................ 62 24 58 25 / 0 0 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 59 33 54 31 / 0 0 0 0 Clayton......................... 66 28 59 33 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 63 32 59 33 / 0 0 0 0 Conchas......................... 69 39 64 36 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 65 37 61 37 / 0 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 69 41 64 38 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 68 40 65 40 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 70 41 67 41 / 0 0 0 5 Fort Sumner..................... 68 39 65 38 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 74 41 71 43 / 0 0 0 5 Picacho......................... 67 43 64 40 / 0 0 0 5 Elk............................. 66 42 62 40 / 0 0 0 5 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Dense Fog Advisory until 11 AM MST this morning for NMZ218>220- 222-223. && SHORT TERM...39 LONG TERM....71 AVIATION...39
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Clines Corners ASOS experienced a peak wind gust of 63 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, December 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: 1059057.