March was another month with below normal precipitation across southwest New Mexico. This lead to all areas ending the month of March in at least Severe(D2) drought conditions.
Every event with a place to put it; 19 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.
March was another month with below normal precipitation across southwest New Mexico. This lead to all areas ending the month of March in at least Severe(D2) drought conditions.
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 28, 10:22 PM MST, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM
1022 PM MST Fri Feb 28 2025
...New AVIATION...
.KEY MESSAGES...
Updated at 939 PM MST Fri Feb 28 2025
- Breezy to windy conditions combined with dry air will create
fire weather concerns Saturday through Monday.
- Temperatures will be a few degrees above average for the
weekend and into Monday, then a little below average for
Tuesday then back above average for the middle of next week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 242 PM MST Fri Feb 28 2025
Tomorrow starts March and right on que we will have breezy to
windy start to the month. An approaching upper level storm system
will bring breezy to windy conditions to the area on Saturday
afternoon. The system is not the best timed to give us wide spread
windy conditions, so it looks like it will be windy for locations
west of the Rio Grande on Saturday and then the windy conditions
will shift east of the Rio Grande on Sunday. By Sunday evening the
first short wave trough will be to our east and the next
(stronger) system will be moving in our direction. By Monday
afternoon the upper level trough will be near the Four Corners
region and at the surface we will have a decent lee side trough
develop across southeast Colorado. Those factors will help set up
a windy day on Monday. We will likely (70 to 80) see at least wind
advisory level winds (30 to 40 mph) Monday afternoon. The breezy
winds will continue into Tuesday, but then a little less winds on
Wednesday and Thursday.
Looking at temperatures, we will see highs on Saturday through
Monday 5 to 10 degrees above average. For Tuesday our highs will
be a few degrees below average and then right near average to
finish out next week.
&&
.AVIATION...
(06Z TAFS)
Issued at 939 PM MST Fri Feb 28 2025
VFR conditions will persist through forecast period. A band
of high clouds FEW250 currently over SW AZ will move over the
Borderland in the overnight and early hours of Saturday. Light
and variable winds will prevail through the overnight into the
early morning hours. Winds will pick up in the afternoon hours
with gusts over 20 kts in the afternoon, especially in areas west
of the Divide with patchy blowing dust briefly bringing visibilities
down to 1SM or less at times. Winds will become light after
sunset or around 02z Sunday.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 242 PM MST Fri Feb 28 2025
We will see active fire weather conditions for Saturday, Sunday,
and Monday. We will be very dry on Saturday with min RH's a little
below 10% in the lowlands and ranging from 10 to 15% in area
mountains. We also will have gusty south to southwest winds. The
strongest winds will be west of the Continental Divide. We will
see Red Flag conditions for some of southwest New Mexico on
Saturday afternoon. We will see near critical fire weather
condition on Sunday, but then strong winds and critical fire
weather conditions return for Monday. We will a little less winds
on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
El Paso 44 79 48 74 / 0 0 10 0
Sierra Blanca 40 75 43 69 / 0 0 0 0
Las Cruces 38 75 40 70 / 0 0 0 0
Alamogordo 36 75 39 70 / 0 0 10 0
Cloudcroft 30 55 31 47 / 0 0 10 0
Truth or Consequences 39 73 42 71 / 0 0 10 0
Silver City 38 68 34 61 / 0 0 10 0
Deming 36 77 38 71 / 0 0 0 0
Lordsburg 34 78 32 69 / 0 0 0 0
West El Paso Metro 47 77 49 71 / 0 0 10 0
Dell City 34 76 39 72 / 0 0 10 0
Fort Hancock 39 81 42 75 / 0 0 0 0
Loma Linda 44 71 44 65 / 0 0 10 0
Fabens 41 80 44 74 / 0 0 10 0
Santa Teresa 39 76 44 71 / 0 0 0 0
White Sands HQ 45 76 47 71 / 0 0 10 0
Jornada Range 35 75 38 71 / 0 0 10 0
Hatch 34 78 41 74 / 0 0 0 0
Columbus 39 78 43 72 / 0 0 0 0
Orogrande 39 74 42 70 / 0 0 10 0
Mayhill 34 67 37 60 / 0 0 10 0
Mescalero 31 65 33 58 / 0 0 10 0
Timberon 31 63 31 58 / 0 0 10 0
Winston 28 66 27 64 / 0 0 10 0
Hillsboro 37 72 39 70 / 0 0 0 0
Spaceport 34 73 36 71 / 0 0 10 0
Lake Roberts 34 69 32 62 / 0 0 10 0
Hurley 34 71 32 64 / 0 0 0 0
Cliff 29 77 26 69 / 0 0 10 0
Mule Creek 34 73 30 64 / 0 0 10 0
Faywood 39 71 37 64 / 0 0 10 0
Animas 34 80 34 72 / 0 0 0 0
Hachita 34 78 34 70 / 0 0 0 0
Antelope Wells 39 79 39 72 / 0 0 0 0
Cloverdale 41 72 37 66 / 0 0 0 0
&&
.EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...Fire Weather Watch from Monday morning through Monday evening
for Texas Fire Weather Zone 055 El Paso County.
NM...Fire Weather Watch from Monday morning through Monday evening
for Capitan and Sacramento Mountains/Lincoln NF/LNZ- South
Central Lowlands and Southern Rio Grande Valley/BLM/GLZ-
Southwest Deserts and Lowlands/Las Cruces BLM/GLZ-
Southwest Mountains/Gila NF/Apache NF/GLZ.
Blowing Dust Advisory from 11 AM to 6 PM MST Saturday for
Lowlands of the Bootheel-Southwest Desert/Lower Gila River
Valley-Southwest Desert/Mimbres Basin-Uplands of the
Bootheel.
Red Flag Warning from 11 AM to 6 PM MST Saturday for Southwest
Deserts and Lowlands/Las Cruces BLM/GLZ.
&&
FORECASTER...41-KellyThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
19 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
The month started out with the entire zone in Extreme(D3) drought but by the end of the month, the far southeast was placed in Exceptional(D4) drought. The Cliff Cooperative Observer reported 0.47 inches of precipitation which was 0.16 inches below normal.
Extreme(D3) drought conditions were spread across the entire zone to start March, but by the end of the month, the western areas were placed in Exceptional(D4) drought.
The month started out with the entire zone in Extreme(D3) drought with the eastern areas placed in Exceptional(D4) drought by the end of the month. The Redrock Cooperative Observer reported 0.48 inches of precipitation which was 0.09 inches below normal.
The entire zone remained in Extreme(D3) drought through the month of March. The Cooperative Observer in Antelope Wells recorded only 0.02 inches of precipitation which was 0.35 inches below normal.
Extreme(D3) drought continued for the entire month across the zone.
March started out with Extreme(D3) drought for all areas except the northeast where Severe(D2) drought was present. By the end of the month, the northwest was in Exceptional(D4) drought and Extreme(D3) drought for the remainder of the zone. The Deming airport reported 0.16 inches of precipitation which was 0.14 inches below normal.
The month of March started with the far southern areas of the zone in Extreme(D3) drought with improvement to Moderate(D1) drought over the north. By the end of the month, the entire zone was in Extreme(D3) drought. The Cooperative Observer in Hillsboro reported just 0.18 inches of precipitation which was 0.12 inches below normal.
The month started out with Severe(D2) drought over the southwest and improving to Abnormally Dry(D0) drought over the northeast. By the end of the month, the western half of the zone was in Extreme(D3) drought and Severe(D2) drought over the east. The Truth or Consequences received a trace of precipitation which was 0.24 inches below normal.
Extreme(D3) drought continued over the western half of the zone while the east remained in Severe(D2) drought.
March started out with Severe(D2) drought over the north and Extreme(D3) drought over the south. By the end of the month, Exceptional(D4) drought was over the far south with Extreme(D3) drought elsewhere. The Cooperative Observer reported 0.04 inches of precipitation which was 0.22 inches below normal.
The month of March started with Extreme(D3) drought over the southeast portion of the zone and improved to Moderate(D1) drought north. By the end of the month, the entire zone was in Severe(D3) drought. The Mountain Park Cooperative Observer recorded a trace of precipitation which was 0.88 inches below normal.
March started with most of the zone in Severe(D2) drought with Moderate(D1) drought over the northwest. Extreme(D3) drought covered the entire zone by the end of the month. The Cloudcroft Cooperative Observer reported 0.36 inches of precipitation which was 1.09 inches below normal.
The entire zone started at Severe(D2) drought and finished in Extreme(D3) drought. The Cooperative Observer in Elk recorded a trace of precipitation which was 0.51 inches below normal.
Extreme(D3) drought conditions continued across the zone in March.
The entire zone went from being in Extreme(D3) to Exceptional(D4) drought. The White Signal Cooperative Observer reported 0.40 inches of precipitation which was 0.19 inches below normal.
The zone started with Extreme(D3) drought over the west and improving to Moderate(D1) drought east. By the end of the month, the southwest was in Exceptional(D4) drought with Extreme(D3) over the remainder of the zone.
The zone started March with Extreme(D3) drought over the south and improved to Abnormally Dry(D0) drought north. By the end of the month, the southern half of the zone was in Extreme(D3) drought and Severe(D2) drought north. There was no precipitation at the White Sands National Park which was 0.24 inches below normal.
The zone started in in Abnormally Dry(D0) to Moderate(D1) drought and by the end of the month had Severe(D2) drought north and Extreme(D3) south.
The month started with Extreme(D3) drought over the southwest and Severe(D2) drought over the remainder of the zone. By the end of the month, the entire zone was in Extreme(D3) drought.
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, March 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: 1244842, 1244843, 1244847, 1244851, 1244852, 1244853, 1244856, 1244857, 1244858, 1244859, 1244909, 1244910, 1244911, 1244912, 1244913, 1244914, 1244915, 1244916, 1244917.