A potent backdoor cold front surged southward into northeastern NM on November 20th. Aided by strong winds aloft and mountain wave activity allowing these winds to crash to the surface south of Raton Pass, the Raton Airport measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph.
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The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.
A potent backdoor cold front surged southward into northeastern NM on November 20th. Aided by strong winds aloft and mountain wave activity allowing these winds to crash to the surface south of Raton Pass, the Raton Airport measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph. These winds also combined with blowing snow to cause hazardous winter travel conditions from I-25 eastward toward Folsom along New Mexico Highway 72.
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 Nov 20, 4:32 AM MST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 432 AM MST Mon Nov 20 2023 ...New AVIATION... .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 234 AM MST Mon Nov 20 2023 One more day of valley rain showers and higher elevation snow showers is expected across central and far northeast NM on the backside of a storm system over the Great Plains. It will be cooler across eastern New Mexico behind a cold front with strong northerly winds across the northeast and east central New Mexico of 25 to 35 mph gusting up to 55 mph. Blowing snow is possible across Raton Pass where a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect due to snow accumulations around 3 inches through midnight tonight. Precipitation should gradually come to an end around midnight with a cool Tuesday expected. Breezy north winds will continue across the east near the Texas border. After a warmer and quiet Thanksgiving Eve, clouds increase Thanksgiving Day ahead of the next system which will bring winter precipitation and colder temperatures to northern New Mexico Friday. The colder temperatures expand south and west Thanksgiving weekend with some winter precipitation continuing across eastern NM during the 1st half of Saturday followed by generally cold and drier conditions Sunday. && .SHORT TERM... (Today through Tuesday) Issued at 234 AM MST Mon Nov 20 2023 Scattered rain and snow showers continue early this morning. Snow levels are lowering with snow now being reported around Taos and Gallup. Snow accumulations are expected to be minimal through the morning hours. An area of rain showers across eastern NM will continue to track southward through the morning as the upper level trough slides southeastward. By mid morning, strong northerly winds will increase across eastern NM behind the backdoor cold front. Though mixing will be limited today, not far above the surface northerly winds of 45-50kt are expected across northeast and east central NM. Thus, even the limited mixing will be enough for strong surface winds gusting between 50 and 55 mph today. These winds will likely linger across the Raton Pass area through tonight since it's higher in elevation, while other areas decouple this evening. A Wind Advisory has been issued for much of NE and EC NM. However, strong and moist upslope flow combined with cooler temperatures, especially tonight, will yield snow across Raton Pass and points just eastward. Given the potential for holiday travel, and blowing snow reducing visibility, opted to issue a Winter Weather Advisory for this area for 2 to 6 inches of snowfall. Most of the accumulating snow will occur this evening and overnight. Elsewhere, a few to scattered showers will continue. Though much of the forcing will have passed, orographic lift will be the main driver of additional precipitation today. Showers developing across the Northern Mountain should shift southward with time, crossing much of central NM. Snow levels will be around 7kt. Aside from the snow and blowing snow across far northeast NM tonight, there is potential for another round of fog/freezing fog across low lying areas of central and western NM late tonight through sunrise Tuesday as clouds clear out with minimal winds. Thereafter, a much quieter Tuesday is in store, though it will remain cold. High temperatures will be up to 10 degrees below normal, but with plenty of sunshine. && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday night through Sunday) Issued at 234 AM MST Mon Nov 20 2023 Clear skies Tuesday night into Wednesday morning will result in a chilly night with perfect conditions for radiational cooling and valley inversions. Temperatures will be near to a few degrees below average. The upper ridge over the Pacific coast begins to flatten in response to an upper level trough entering the Pacific NW. The region will be under the eastern periphery of the ridge The higher heights will result in warmer temperatures, with the most pronounced warming of 6 to 15 degrees over eastern NM due to downslope southwesterly winds. After another mostly clear and chilly night, high clouds begin to increase Thanksgiving Day ahead of the aforementioned shortwave trough digging southeast over the intermountain west and eventually deepening and closing off into a low late in the day. At the surface, a backdoor front will enter northeast NM around midday resulting a cooler day compared to the prior one. The global models in this 00Z run seem to agree on the upper low diving south, but staying just north of the Four Corners during the day Friday. Much colder air will move into northeast NM behind the backdoor cold front, resulting in lower snow levels. Lift and upper level divergence ahead of the low will allow precipitation to develop across northern NM. It will be mainly rain in the valley locations west of the central mountain chain Friday afternoon due to snow levels being around 6500 feet. It will be snow across and east of the northern mountains due to the colder temperatures of -6 to - 11 deg C at 700 mb. The upslope easterly flow behind the backdoor front will help to enhance the snow activity across northeast NM with hazardous travel conditions possible across Raton Pass near the Colorado border due to the snow. The snow across northern and parts of eastern NM looks to last into the overnight hours of Friday into the 1st half of Saturday as the low treks across Colorado, opening up and weakening as it does so. Precipitation across this region could last into the 2nd half of Saturday if the slower ECMWF run ends up being the case. Meanwhile, the backdoor front looks to seep through the gaps of the central mountain chain Friday night with a breezy to gusty east canyon wind possible. This will spread the colder air across eastern NM into the RGV resulting in a colder Saturday across the ABQ metro. Snow levels at this point should drop down to valley floors. It looks like the precip exits late Saturday with drier westerly flow in it's wake Sunday. It will still be chilly, however, with highs around 10 to 20 degrees below average due to another upper level trough dives south across the Intermountain West and Pacific coast. The chilly weather continues into Monday as another as the aforementioned upper level trough closes off into a low off the southern CA coast. Anand && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 430 AM MST Mon Nov 20 2023 Low clouds and areas of fog or freezing fog have developed this morning across much of western and central NM. Localized areas may see vsby as low as 0.25 miles through 15Z, including at KSAF, but IFR cigs/vsby will be common. A few showers will also continue this morning across western and central NM. A band of rain showers across eastern NM will continue to slide southward through the morning, likely impacting KROW between 13-16Z. Strong northerly have begin to develop across NE NM. These winds will increase and expand across much of NE and EC NM this morning with gusts near 45kt possible through the afternoon. These winds will slowly decrease overnight. Additional showers will develop over the northern mountains this afternoon and track southward, before diminishing this evening. Patchy freezing fog will be possible again late tonight into Tuesday morning across portions of western and central NM. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 234 AM MST Mon Nov 20 2023 Critical fire weather conditions are not expected for the next 7 days. Additional rain and snow showers are expected today, with the heaviest snow accumulations occurring this evening and overnight across far northeast NM. Elsewhere, precipitation will come to an end overnight. Strong northerly winds gusting between 50 and 55 mph are expected across northeast and east central NM today behind a backdoor cold front. These winds will slowly decrease this evening and overnight. Quieter conditions are expected Tuesday through Wednesday with gradually warming temperatures. The warming trend will be halted across northeast NM on Thanksgiving behind a weak backdoor cold front. Otherwise, the Thanksgiving holiday will be quiet as well. A storm system is still poised to impact portions of NM on Friday. Attm, it appears that at least northern NM will receive precipitation, mainly in the form of snow. Temperatures will turn much colder Friday and that trend may continue through the weekend. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 52 24 51 22 / 0 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 49 15 50 14 / 10 5 0 0 Cuba............................ 47 23 49 22 / 30 10 0 0 Gallup.......................... 49 18 51 15 / 5 0 0 0 El Morro........................ 46 21 49 20 / 20 5 0 0 Grants.......................... 48 19 51 16 / 20 5 0 0 Quemado......................... 44 22 49 19 / 30 10 0 0 Magdalena....................... 48 28 48 27 / 20 30 0 0 Datil........................... 45 24 47 25 / 20 20 0 0 Reserve......................... 51 22 55 19 / 20 10 0 0 Glenwood........................ 58 33 60 32 / 10 5 0 0 Chama........................... 43 16 46 17 / 20 10 0 0 Los Alamos...................... 45 29 46 30 / 30 10 0 0 Pecos........................... 46 25 47 27 / 40 20 0 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 41 18 44 19 / 20 10 0 0 Red River....................... 37 14 42 15 / 30 10 0 0 Angel Fire...................... 38 7 44 2 / 30 10 0 0 Taos............................ 46 16 47 12 / 20 10 0 0 Mora............................ 44 20 47 21 / 30 10 0 0 Espanola........................ 53 24 53 22 / 20 10 0 0 Santa Fe........................ 46 27 47 29 / 40 20 0 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 49 26 50 23 / 30 20 0 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 52 31 52 32 / 30 30 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 52 32 53 30 / 30 30 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 53 29 54 26 / 20 30 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 52 31 53 30 / 20 20 0 0 Belen........................... 55 27 54 24 / 20 40 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 53 29 54 28 / 30 20 0 0 Bosque Farms.................... 54 26 54 23 / 20 30 0 0 Corrales........................ 53 29 53 28 / 30 20 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 54 27 54 25 / 20 30 0 0 Placitas........................ 50 29 50 31 / 30 20 0 0 Rio Rancho...................... 53 31 52 29 / 30 20 0 0 Socorro......................... 54 31 55 28 / 30 30 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 46 29 46 30 / 30 30 0 0 Tijeras......................... 48 29 48 29 / 30 30 0 0 Edgewood........................ 49 24 48 23 / 30 30 0 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 51 18 50 15 / 40 30 0 0 Clines Corners.................. 45 23 46 23 / 40 20 0 0 Mountainair..................... 48 25 48 23 / 50 40 0 0 Gran Quivira.................... 50 27 49 23 / 50 40 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 54 33 51 28 / 30 20 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 46 26 44 24 / 30 10 0 0 Capulin......................... 40 22 44 22 / 30 30 0 0 Raton........................... 46 24 50 17 / 30 30 0 0 Springer........................ 49 25 52 19 / 10 10 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 47 22 48 22 / 20 5 0 0 Clayton......................... 48 32 50 27 / 5 10 0 0 Roy............................. 50 28 51 23 / 0 0 0 0 Conchas......................... 58 31 56 24 / 5 5 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 56 31 52 23 / 20 5 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 58 31 54 24 / 10 5 0 0 Clovis.......................... 58 35 52 27 / 20 0 0 0 Portales........................ 60 36 54 24 / 20 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 60 34 55 25 / 20 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 64 39 57 28 / 20 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 55 33 51 27 / 20 5 0 0 Elk............................. 51 29 48 24 / 20 5 0 0 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory from 8 AM this morning to 5 PM MST this afternoon for NMZ228-230>232-234-235. Winter Weather Advisory from 8 AM this morning to 5 AM MST Tuesday for NMZ227. && SHORT TERM...34 LONG TERM....71 AVIATION...34
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Raton Airport measured 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 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, November 2023
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: 1141298.