New zones that went into effect on September 19th had Severe(D2) to Exceptional(D4) drought.
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 EPZ wrote it up.
New zones that went into effect on September 19th had Severe(D2) to Exceptional(D4) drought.
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 El Paso, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 20, 10:59 AM MST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa NM 1159 AM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 ...New AVIATION... .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 227 AM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 A trough moves into the region later today, resulting in the chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight and Thursday. Strong winds and small hail are possible with some storms through Thursday. Dry and warm conditions return for Friday and lasting through the weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 227 AM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 Conditions will begin to deteriorate today as an upper trough advances from the west and pulls moisture up from the southwest around ridging to our south. Decent forcing and dynamics will be in place over northern Chihuahua this PM as the storm motion is southwesterly, bringing the activity into the El Paso metro this evening. Confidence is relatively high that El Paso will see storms roll through around sunset. CAPE values won't be very impressive (~500 J/kg in northern Chihuahua and ~200 in El Paso) but the unidirectional nature of winds through the column may produce strong winds gusts (50 mph). A severe gust or two cannot be ruled out closer to the Int'l border this evening as the storms progress to the northeast. Wind seems to be the main threat with this activity, but hail and localized flooding are also possible. Isolated storms may persist through Wed night and redevelop Thurs afternoon, shifting further east as drier air pushes out the moisture. Better thermodynamics and less forcing are expected for Thursday as SPC now has a Marginal Risk just to our east for severe wind. PW's climb steadily tonight and tomorrow to around 1.2 inches with the moisture surge. Flooding doesn't look to be a big concern due to relatively fast storm motion and alignment of winds through the column. Training of storms could result in localized flooding. By Thurs night, the moisture is largely eroded away with some lingering activity possible in far west TX. From Friday through the weekend, we return to zonal flow aloft and weak ridging. Warm and dry weather is expected during this time with modest breeziness each afternoon from the west. GFS and Euro have a minor shortwave pushing through around Sat night, the GFS being the quicker of the two models. Regardless of timing, it seems like we'll only get some higher clouds from the disturbance and little if any chance of rain. The next chance of precip could be next Tuesday as a frontal boundary stalls to the east. If surface high pressure builds over the KS-OK area behind the front, some of that moisture could rotate in from the east, a quasi- monsoonal setup. The two models have flipped from yesterday with the GFS now more bullish on this scenario. For now, slight PoPs are in the grids beginning Tues PM for eastern areas. Through the period, temperatures will be steady near or a few degrees above normal. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1152 AM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 Showers and thunderstorms expected to start up later this afternoon over the Borderland around 21Z-23Z. Better confidence for thunderstorms/showers for KELP and KLRU, with less confidence for KTCS, and even less confidence for KDMN. Activity should diminish tonight around 03Z. Gusty winds are possible near outflows from storms, small hail, and brief heavy rain will be the biggest threats with todays storms. Otherwise, calm conditions expected overnight. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 227 AM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 Fire weather conditions are not expected through the period. Today will be warm and dry but not critically so as westerly flow remains over the region. Moisture increases tonight in advance of an upper trough with a chance of showers and storms Wednesday night through Thursday. Storms will develop this afternoon in northern Chihuahua and progress to the northeast into the El Paso area after sunset. Some storms may produce gusty and erratic winds and small hail through Thursday. Drier air moves in by Friday from the west behind the trough, ending the threat of rain and thunderstorms. Dry conditions then last through the weekend with elevated fire weather possible Friday and Saturday due to breezier west winds. 20-foot winds up to 15 knots are possible during those afternoons with low surface moisture expected. Min RHs range from 20-30% in the lowlands on Thursday, otherwise 12-20%; 25-45% in the mountains on Thursday, otherwise 15-25%. Vent rates will be good to excellent through Saturday. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 96 69 93 70 / 20 30 10 30 Sierra Blanca 90 62 88 63 / 10 40 30 30 Las Cruces 91 63 89 62 / 20 40 20 10 Alamogordo 89 61 87 63 / 10 30 20 20 Cloudcroft 68 46 66 48 / 10 40 30 20 Truth or Consequences 88 61 87 60 / 20 20 10 0 Silver City 81 56 81 56 / 20 20 10 0 Deming 91 62 90 60 / 20 30 10 0 Lordsburg 88 61 89 59 / 20 30 10 0 West El Paso Metro 94 68 91 69 / 20 30 10 20 Dell City 94 64 91 65 / 10 30 20 20 Fort Hancock 97 65 94 67 / 20 40 20 30 Loma Linda 88 62 84 63 / 10 30 30 30 Fabens 95 65 92 67 / 10 30 20 30 Santa Teresa 91 64 89 65 / 20 30 20 10 White Sands HQ 92 66 89 67 / 20 30 20 10 Jornada Range 91 63 88 62 / 20 30 20 10 Hatch 92 62 90 61 / 20 20 10 10 Columbus 91 65 89 64 / 20 30 20 10 Orogrande 90 62 86 62 / 10 30 20 20 Mayhill 81 53 78 54 / 10 40 30 20 Mescalero 79 50 76 52 / 20 30 30 20 Timberon 78 50 74 51 / 10 30 30 20 Winston 80 51 79 51 / 20 20 10 0 Hillsboro 88 57 86 57 / 20 20 10 0 Spaceport 89 61 86 59 / 20 20 10 10 Lake Roberts 80 50 79 49 / 20 30 10 0 Hurley 86 58 86 57 / 20 20 10 0 Cliff 88 52 89 50 / 20 30 10 0 Mule Creek 80 55 82 52 / 30 40 10 0 Faywood 86 59 84 59 / 20 20 10 0 Animas 89 61 89 58 / 20 20 20 0 Hachita 90 61 89 60 / 20 20 10 0 Antelope Wells 90 61 89 60 / 20 20 20 0 Cloverdale 83 59 84 57 / 20 20 20 0 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. NM...None. && FORECASTER...37-Slusher
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM 1206 PM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 NMZ401-403>411-414>417-425>429-TXZ418>424-211815- Upper Gila River Valley-Southern Gila Foothills/Mimbres Valley- Southwest Desert/Lower Gila River Valley-Lowlands of the Bootheel- Uplands of the Bootheel-Southwest Desert/Mimbres Basin- Eastern Black Range Foothills-Sierra County Lakes- Northern Dona Ana County-Southern Dona Ana County/Mesilla Valley- West Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet- Sacramento Mountains Above 7500 Feet- East Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet-Otero Mesa- Central Grant County/Silver City Area- Southern Gila Region Highlands/Black Range- West Central Tularosa Basin/White Sands- East Central Tularosa Basin/Alamogordo-Southeast Tularosa Basin- Western El Paso County-Eastern/Central El Paso County- Northern Hudspeth Highlands/Hueco Mountains-Salt Basin- Southern Hudspeth Highlands- Rio Grande Valley of Eastern El Paso/Western Hudspeth Counties- Rio Grande Valley of Eastern Hudspeth County- 1206 PM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of south central New Mexico, southwest New Mexico, and southwest Texas. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight We will have some thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. The best timimg for the thunderstorms will be 5PM to 8PM this evening. The main threat will be strong winds and small hail. There also could be some brief heavy rains, so isolated flooding of low lying and flood prone areas will be possible. A few showers and light thunderstorms could linger past midnight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday On Thursday we will see more rain chances, mainly east of the Rio Grande. For Friday through the start of next week, we will see high temperatures well above average with just a slight chance for rain on next Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
The entire zone remained in Extreme(D3) drought for the later half of September.
The entire zone remained in Extreme(D3) drought.
The entire zone remained in Severe(D2) drought.
The entire zone remained in Severe(D2) drought through the end of September.
The entire zone remained in Severe(D2) drought.
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, September 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: 1142093, 1142096, 1142097, 1142098, 1142099.