Little to no precipitation fell in February which lead to Western Sierra County moving into Severe(D2) drought with the far southwest even into Extreme(D3) drought.
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 EPZ wrote it up.
Little to no precipitation fell in February which lead to Western Sierra County moving into Severe(D2) drought with the far southwest even into Extreme(D3) 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 Feb 4, 10:53 AM MST, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM 1053 AM MST Tue Feb 4 2025 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 1051 AM MST Tue Feb 4 2025 - Dry conditions through Monday or longer. - Additional high temperature records are likely to be matched or broken through the remainder of the week as temperatures run 10 to 20 degrees above average. - Winds will become a little breezy for the second half of the week. - Dry back door cold front will attempt to push to the Rio Grande Sunday. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 245 AM MST Tue Feb 4 2025 Slightly higher dewpoints in the area has allowed overnight temperatures to stay a little on the milder side. The only areas currently below freezing are the usual cold spots in the Gila Region like Mule Creek and, Gila Hot Springs, and Lake Roberts. Lowland deserts are in the 40s, and several mid-elevation areas are still hanging onto 50s as the nocturnal inversion and quite shallow. Upper level flow will become more amplified today, bringing southwest winds aloft and warmer temperatures. Continued to lean towards the warmer side of guidance, with lower 80s common across the desert lowlands, and middle-80s in the Lower Valley below Fabens. Even Cloudcroft could crack the 60 degree mark. The record high in El Paso for the day is 81 degrees, set back in 1890, and it is likely to be exceeded by a degree or two. Light winds will prevail much like yesterday. A weak shortwave trough will cross the Central Rockies in Wednesday, and as a result, southwest winds will see a minor uptick Wed afternoon and Thursday. Still we're only talking 10-15 mph with a few gusts in the 20s. A return to zonal flow towards Thursday and Friday may shave a few degrees off daytime highs, but records will also be dropping into the upper-70s at ELP, and may continue to be threatened. A relatively weak back door cold front will try to push as far west as the Rio Grande around Sunday, but any frontal passage looks to remain dry. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1051 AM MST Tue Feb 4 2025 VFR conditions through the period at all terminals. Skies mostly sunny, with FEW-SCT250 streaming from SW to NE. Winds AOB 12kts, often below 6-8kts...and favoring S to SW...turning more westerly after 03Z. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 245 AM MST Tue Feb 4 2025 High temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 degrees above normal will continue through the week, with daily records likely being met or exceeded. Slightly higher dewpoints will keep Min RH values around 10 percent in the lowlands today, and above 20 percent above 7000 feet. But drier conditions will filter back in on Wednesday, dropping RH values into the single digits again. A weak shortwave trough will give west-southwest winds a slight boost Wednesday into Thursday, improving vent rates, but also elevating fire weather conditions somewhat, particularly considering the low RH values and dry fuels. A weak back door cold front will push towards the Rio Grande Sunday into Monday, but will not bring precipitation to the area. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 83 46 81 44 / 0 0 0 0 Sierra Blanca 83 45 80 43 / 0 0 0 0 Las Cruces 82 40 82 38 / 0 0 0 0 Alamogordo 78 40 77 39 / 0 0 0 0 Cloudcroft 59 38 57 36 / 0 0 0 0 Truth or Consequences 79 39 78 36 / 0 0 0 0 Silver City 73 41 69 38 / 0 0 0 0 Deming 82 37 79 33 / 0 0 0 0 Lordsburg 80 36 76 33 / 0 0 0 0 West El Paso Metro 82 46 80 45 / 0 0 0 0 Dell City 82 38 82 36 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Hancock 87 41 84 42 / 0 0 0 0 Loma Linda 78 46 73 44 / 0 0 0 0 Fabens 85 42 83 41 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Teresa 81 41 79 39 / 0 0 0 0 White Sands HQ 81 48 79 46 / 0 0 0 0 Jornada Range 80 36 80 36 / 0 0 0 0 Hatch 83 36 82 34 / 0 0 0 0 Columbus 82 40 81 38 / 0 0 0 0 Orogrande 79 40 78 40 / 0 0 0 0 Mayhill 73 43 70 42 / 0 0 0 0 Mescalero 69 36 66 36 / 0 0 0 0 Timberon 69 35 66 35 / 0 0 0 0 Winston 74 31 73 25 / 0 0 0 0 Hillsboro 78 39 78 37 / 0 0 0 0 Spaceport 79 35 79 32 / 0 0 0 0 Lake Roberts 70 29 68 34 / 0 0 0 0 Hurley 75 35 72 32 / 0 0 0 0 Cliff 76 27 76 24 / 0 0 0 0 Mule Creek 73 29 71 33 / 0 0 0 0 Faywood 76 40 74 38 / 0 0 0 0 Animas 82 36 78 34 / 0 0 0 0 Hachita 82 36 79 34 / 0 0 0 0 Antelope Wells 82 39 80 37 / 0 0 0 0 Cloverdale 76 44 74 42 / 0 0 0 0 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. NM...None. && FORECASTER...14-Bird
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
The month started out with the entire zone in Moderate(D1) drought but by the end of the month the far south had Extreme(D3) drought with Moderate(D1) drought north.
The month started out with no drought conditions over the east and Moderate(D1) drought over the west. Starting February 4th, the southwest portion of the zone was in Severe(D2) drought, improving to the northeast portion of the zone, which finished in Abnormally Dry(D0) drought. The Truth or Consequences airport reported only 0.01 inches of precipitation which was 0.29 inches below normal.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, February 2025
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: 1233385, 1233387.