Upper-level winds increased over New Mexico ahead of a low pressure system moving into the Pacific coast. Warm temperatures and deep mixing allowed these stronger upper-level winds to reach the surface across western, central and northeast New Mexico.
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The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.
Upper-level winds increased over New Mexico ahead of a low pressure system moving into the Pacific coast. Warm temperatures and deep mixing allowed these stronger upper-level winds to reach the surface across western, central and northeast New Mexico. This resulted in some high wind gusts at Clayton and across White Sands Missile Range during the afternoon. Later, high wind gusts occurred at Farmington and Gallup in western New Mexico shortly after sunset as a Pacific cold front moved through the region.
Keyword: High Winds.
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 5, 10:39 AM MST, 2 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM Issued by National Weather Service Amarillo TX 1139 AM MDT Fri Apr 5 2024 ...New AVIATION... .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 356 AM MDT Fri Apr 5 2024 Windy conditions expected across most of the NM area today through Sunday, with the strongest winds expected on Saturday. A well stacked jet will settle into the NM area today and lead to some breezy to windy conditions. High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories are in effect for the central and western portion of New Mexico. The western and southwest mountains are expected to see the highest winds 30 to 40 mph gusting to 60 mph, with most other areas expected to see winds 25 to 35 mph, gusting to 55 mph. This evening precipitation chances will ramp up as a good fetch of moisture will move in with a cold front, and we'll be keeping an eye on the Tusas Mountains Including Chama overnight tonight into Saturday morning for potentially impactful snow accumulations. Prior to the cold front, we still have concerns of blowing dust and critical Fire Weather as these RH values will be in the 10-15 percent range for the most part. A Red Flag Warning continues this afternoon and evening for the low lying areas across the FA. This will continue to be an issue for the eastern FA on Saturday as high winds are expected to continue in conjunction with low RH values, and little to no precipitation is expected that far east. && .SHORT TERM... (Today through Saturday) Issued at 356 AM MDT Fri Apr 5 2024 Another mild day today, but a lot more wind to deal with as a strong jet is progged to move over NM this afternoon. Decent south winds with a modest surface gradient will keep winds in the 25-35 mph range and in some areas 30-40 mph with gusts 50 to 60 overall for most areas. The east will not be as strong as the central and west today. Given the approaching cold front with this system temperatures will drop back into the teens to 20s for the mountains tonight and in the 30s to 40s for the lower elevations. Looks like we'll get some Pacific moisture to move across the northern Mountains, and we may even have enough for impactful snowfall. We'll be looking closer at this for the afternoon package. Saturday, the main surface low tightens up and tracks east towards southeast CO. This will support sustained winds 30 to 40 for eastern NM and may even see gusts to 60 mph. Strong wind gust potential will be prevalent along the Sacramento mountains as well on Saturday. A High Wind Watch is noted for these areas, and Red Flag Warnings are now in effect, mainly for the south central and eastern NM area. && .LONG TERM... (Saturday night through Thursday) Issued at 356 AM MDT Fri Apr 5 2024 System is expected to take a strong negative tilt and eject to the northeast leaving cooler air and mostly freezing temperatures across all areas Saturday night. Another weather system is expected to follow behind and work it's way down to the Las Vegas area by Monday morning. It does look like there will be some moisture with this system, but it may be limited to southern CO on given the track of the upper low. By Monday evening we should have some better precipitation chances as the center of the low is expected to track over southern NM and provide decent wrap around to the central and northern NM area. These better chances of precipitation are expected to continue through Tuesday night as the system slowly tracks southeast into Texas. Weak high pressure is expected to return to the area for the remainder of the extended and should lead to some quite weather through Thursday. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1130 AM MDT Fri Apr 5 2024 As of 11 am this early afternoon, majority of TAF sites are seeing gusty southerly to southwesterly winds push across the area. Expected these winds to hold throughout the evening and overnight with many models not seeing winds fully die down until the incoming system fully passes late Saturday. In consequence to these gusty winds, blowing dust may be seen this afternoon for some of the terminals with KGUP and KFMN currently seeing best chances for reduced visibility. Otherwise, look for the next major change to come late tonight as showers begin to move in from the west sometime after midnight. Potential is present to see snow even at the lower elevation terminals with chances increasing further during the early morning hours of Saturday. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 356 AM MDT Fri Apr 5 2024 ...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS EXPECTED TODAY AND SATURDAY... Strong winds associated with an approaching weather system, in conjunction with low RH values will lead to critical Fire Weather conditions across much of the lower elevations today, and again on Saturday. Given northwest NM may see some moisture tonight, the concerns for critical Fire Weather are much less on Saturday than today. Winds are expected to be stronger in the east tomorrow in line with a stronger surface gradient and good cross barrier flow. Given little to no moisture in the south central or eastern NM area, Red Flag Warnings have been issued for these areas. Sunday we'll continue to monitor for critical Fire Weather as RH values will still be quite low in the east, but winds are expected to be more relaxed. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 31 49 27 56 / 60 20 0 0 Dulce........................... 21 43 18 52 / 90 50 0 0 Cuba............................ 25 42 23 51 / 80 40 0 0 Gallup.......................... 23 45 20 55 / 80 20 0 0 El Morro........................ 22 40 21 50 / 80 30 0 0 Grants.......................... 23 45 20 56 / 60 20 0 0 Quemado......................... 23 43 22 54 / 60 20 0 0 Magdalena....................... 30 46 28 58 / 20 20 0 0 Datil........................... 25 41 24 55 / 40 20 0 0 Reserve......................... 25 51 20 62 / 60 10 0 0 Glenwood........................ 34 54 31 64 / 50 10 0 0 Chama........................... 19 37 13 46 / 90 50 0 0 Los Alamos...................... 30 41 27 52 / 60 20 0 0 Pecos........................... 27 42 26 53 / 40 20 0 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 32 36 26 46 / 60 30 0 0 Red River....................... 21 33 14 44 / 60 40 0 0 Angel Fire...................... 19 32 15 43 / 50 40 0 0 Taos............................ 26 42 18 52 / 60 30 0 0 Mora............................ 26 40 24 51 / 30 40 0 0 Espanola........................ 33 50 27 60 / 60 20 0 0 Santa Fe........................ 30 43 26 54 / 50 20 0 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 31 47 26 58 / 40 10 0 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 36 50 33 61 / 40 10 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 36 52 31 63 / 30 10 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 36 54 30 65 / 30 5 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 36 52 31 63 / 40 5 0 0 Belen........................... 36 55 29 66 / 20 5 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 36 53 31 63 / 40 10 0 0 Bosque Farms.................... 35 54 28 65 / 30 10 0 0 Corrales........................ 36 53 31 63 / 40 10 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 36 54 30 65 / 20 10 0 0 Placitas........................ 34 48 31 58 / 40 10 0 0 Rio Rancho...................... 36 52 31 62 / 40 10 0 0 Socorro......................... 39 58 33 69 / 10 10 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 30 42 29 53 / 40 10 0 0 Tijeras......................... 31 45 29 56 / 40 10 0 0 Edgewood........................ 30 47 28 56 / 30 10 0 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 29 48 26 58 / 30 10 0 0 Clines Corners.................. 26 44 24 53 / 20 5 0 0 Mountainair..................... 30 46 27 56 / 30 10 0 0 Gran Quivira.................... 31 47 27 57 / 20 5 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 39 54 32 61 / 10 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 33 47 30 55 / 10 5 0 0 Capulin......................... 34 47 26 58 / 0 0 0 0 Raton........................... 34 49 28 61 / 5 0 0 0 Springer........................ 36 49 29 61 / 5 0 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 31 45 28 56 / 10 0 0 0 Clayton......................... 44 56 32 66 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 38 51 31 63 / 0 0 0 0 Conchas......................... 43 58 36 70 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 38 53 33 63 / 0 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 44 59 35 69 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 46 61 36 69 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 46 63 36 71 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 42 59 35 69 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 48 67 36 75 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 40 58 33 67 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 38 58 31 66 / 5 0 0 0 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for NMZ101-104-106- 121-123>126. Wind Advisory until 9 PM MDT this evening for NMZ201-203-204-206- 207-209>229-241. Red Flag Warning from noon to 8 PM MDT Saturday for NMZ104-106- 123-125-126. High Wind Watch from Saturday morning through Saturday evening for NMZ229-231>238. High Wind Warning until midnight MDT tonight for NMZ202-205-208. High Wind Watch from late tonight through Saturday evening for NMZ223-226-239-240. && SHORT TERM...99 LONG TERM....99 AVIATION...99
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A mesonet station at Sevilleta northeast of Socorro observed a wind gust of 60 mph. A 58 mph wind gust was also observed at the Stallion WIT mesonet within the White Sands Missile Range during the time period.
A 59 mph wind gust was observed at the Clayton Municipal Airport.
A high wind gust of 58 mph was observed at the Farmington Four Corners Regional Airport.
A wind gust of 60 mph was observed at the Gallup Municipal Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, April 2024
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: 1161506, 1161507, 1161503, 1161505.