A slow-moving Pacific Northwest storm system took one more day to track across the central Rockies on May 30, 2022. As it continued its track, southwesterly to westerly flow aloft across New Mexico remained strong.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
A slow-moving Pacific Northwest storm system took one more day to track across the central Rockies on May 30, 2022. As it continued its track, southwesterly to westerly flow aloft across New Mexico remained strong. This led to another day of widespread breezy to windy conditons with wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph. Mountain wave activity that developed across the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains did produce brief high wind at Raton with a peak wind gust of 67 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 May 30, 10:20 AM MST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1120 AM MDT Mon May 30 2022 .AVIATION... 18Z TAF CYCLE Strong wly/swly winds already picking up this hour. Gusts are expected to reach 30-40kts for many terminals during the afternoon, and have brought up KABQ to AWW threshold from 21Z-01Z. Also added in 6SM BLDU for blowing dust potential at many terminals, will need to monitor for localized MVFR vis reductions from bldu through the period. Winds will subside past sunset as the atmosphere decouples. The leading edge of a backdoor cold front will reach through the northeastern plains late tonight into Tuesday morning bringing a nly/nely wind shift from KRTN-KCAO-KTCC-KLVS. 24 && .PREV DISCUSSION...305 AM MDT Mon May 30 2022... .SYNOPSIS... Strong southwest winds and widespread critical fire weather conditions will continue today. However, high temperatures will be trending cooler today through mid week. A cold front will initiate a return of deeper low level moisture to eastern New Mexico starting Tuesday night, and where the best chances for showers and thunderstorms will be focused Wednesday through Friday. Some of this moisture could infiltrate westward towards the Continental Divide, but may not be enough to produce wetting rainfall. Drier, warmer and breezy to windy conditions return area wide by the end of this week. && .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY)... This Memorial Day will bring more dry and breezy to windy weather. Winds will be less than Sunday, but still high enough for wind advisories in north central, east central and northeast NM. Deep layer mixing of winds to 500mb or a little higher and an 80 knot jet at 500 mb are responsible for the strong winds. Critical fire weather concerns will also continue for all the fire weather zones. Highs continue down some more, but will be pleasantly warm. A back door cold front will enter northeast NM tonight but dissolve during the day Tuesday. The only area with cooler temperatures Tuesday will be the far northeast, while elsewhere highs will be warmer. Winds will be less than today, with breezy to locally windy conditions, but below wind advisory speeds. Any critical fire weather will only be in the Northeast Highlands. CHJ LONG TERM...(TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)... The most notable change is the farther westward progression of the cold front on Wednesday which could reach the Continental Divide by midday Wednesday, as well as a gusty east to southeast wind into the Rio Grande Valley. The GFS keeps the wind more southerly in the Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday but the NAM12 and model blends including the NBM trend towards the east to southeast winds reaching west of the Valley, which is what is in the grids. Low level moisture will slop progressively farther west Wednesday and Thursday nights on gusty east winds before the drier westerly winds drive it back out of the state, although a bit more slowly on Friday than what models indicated 24 hours ago. All in all though, the better chances for showers and storms are still focused along and east of the central mountain chain. Thursday will be the coolest day over eastern New Mexico where highs will be 5-15 degrees below normal. Temperatures rebound Friday but moreso Saturday and Sunday when most locales will be 5-10 degrees warmer than normal. Southwest to west winds also increase Saturday and Sunday. A cold front flirts with northeast New Mexico Sunday but a more substantial push occurs Monday night/Tuesday, although there are model differences. && .FIRE WEATHER... ...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS AREAWIDE THIS MEMORIAL DAY... After today, no widespread critical fire weather conditions are forecast until next weekend in the east. This Memorial Day will bring more of the same weather, that is, dry and unstable air with strong winds. Thus, the Red Flag Warnings will continue as is for all fire weather zones. Highs will be a bit lower than Sunday, below normal in the west and above normal in the east. A back door cold front will enter northeast NM tonight but weaken Tuesday. Winds aloft will lower Tuesday and translate to less wind. It will remain dry and unstable, but winds should not be strong enough for widespread critical fire conditions. If there is an area of critical conditions Tuesday, it will be in the Northeast Highlands. The back door front will surge south and west Tuesday night and Wednesday. This will bring cooler and more moist air into eastern, and likely central areas starting Wednesday. Showers and thunderstorms will erupt Wednesday on the eastern plains as an upper level disturbance crosses the state. Moisture will exist across all of the east Thursday, as well as over the central mountains. By Friday, enough moisture should be over the Rio Grande Valley for some showers and hopefully measurable rain. Next weekend should bring a drying trend and perhaps a return of critical fire weather conditions. && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ101>109. Wind Advisory until 8 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ210-212>216-223-227>233. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind, 1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
An ASOS station near Raton measured a peak wind gust of 67 mph due to mountain wave activity.
A member of the public in Farmington reported a dust storm with visibility below one quarter of a mile. The spotter reported that visibility from the dust generated from strong winds was as severe as 20 feet at times, but it was not long-lived.
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, May 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: 1018377, 1019619.