New Mexico, 2024

Hail and Damaging Winds in New Mexico, July 1 to 3, 2024

July 1 to 3, 2024 · NWS ABQ · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

An upper level disturbance moving across the Great Basin and Central Rockies combined with record levels of monsoon moisture resulted in the development of widespread showers and storms across northern and central NM each and every afternoon from July 1st through July 3rd. These thunderstorms produced high wind gusts of 59 and 68 mph at the Belen Regional Airport and the Mine mesonet station on…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.

An upper level disturbance moving across the Great Basin and Central Rockies combined with record levels of monsoon moisture resulted in the development of widespread showers and storms across northern and central NM each and every afternoon from July 1st through July 3rd. These thunderstorms produced high wind gusts of 59 and 68 mph at the Belen Regional Airport and the Mine mesonet station on the White Sands Missile Range respectively on July 1st. There was a 59 mph wind gust at the Raton Crews Airport on July 3rd. Drier air moved in from the northwest on the backside of the disturbance on July 4th.

What forecasters said that day

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 Jul 1, 12:46 PM MST, 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 12:46 PM MST, 49 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 1, 1:05 PM MST, 30 minutes before
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The radar

The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Valencia

When
July 1, 1:35 PM MST to 1:38 PM MST
Where
Valencia County, 2.92 mi WSW of Belen
Measured
51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
34.650, -106.830

Outflow from approaching thunderstorms produced a 59 mph wind gust at the Belen Regional Airport.

Thunderstorm Wind, Socorro

When
July 1, 3:55 PM MST to 4:02 PM MST
Where
Socorro County, 9.76 mi SW of Bingham
Measured
59 kt (68 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
33.790, -106.490

Nearby thunderstorms resulted in a peak wind gust of 68 mph at the Mine Mesonet on the White Sands Missile Range.

Hail, Los Alamos

When
July 2, 12:30 PM MST to 12:41 PM MST
Where
Los Alamos County, 0.89 mi SE of (Lam)los Alamos Airport
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
35.870, -106.260

A trained spotter in Los Alamos reported nickel size hail from a thunderstorm.

Thunderstorm Wind, Colfax

When
July 3, 4:46 PM MST to 4:48 PM MST
Where
Colfax County, Raton Crews Arpt
Measured
51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
36.730, -104.500

A thunderstorm produced a microburst at the Raton Crews Airport resulting in a peak wind gust of 59 mph.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Mexico in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, July 2024

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1179699, 1179700, 1179701, 1179702.