Late January rain helped improve the drought conditions, especially along and east of the Rio Grande Valley. By the end of February, all of Otero and Dona Ana counties had improved to Moderate(D1) drought conditions or better while areas west generally remained in Severe(D2) drought.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 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.
Late January rain helped improve the drought conditions, especially along and east of the Rio Grande Valley. By the end of February, all of Otero and Dona Ana counties had improved to Moderate(D1) drought conditions or better while areas west generally remained in Severe(D2) 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 Jan 31, 9:25 PM MST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM 925 PM MST Sat Jan 31 2026 ...New DISCUSSION, AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 927 PM MST Sat Jan 31 2026 - Temperatures warming above normal Sunday and Monday. - A weak backdoor cold front will bring breezy east winds and slightly cooler air midweek. - No rain or high-impact wind in sight. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 927 PM MST Sat Jan 31 2026 We will remain in a benign weather pattern through the forecast period thanks to a ridge west - trough east pattern over the CONUS. The UL ridge will slowly drift east through Tuesday, which will warm highs above normal with Monday being the warmest day. On Tuesday, a s/w trough will move through the Plains, bringing a cooler air mass with it. This air mass is set to arrive Tuesday night / Wednesday morning. Winds will be breezy along west-facing slopes with the passage of the front, and highs will drop around 5 or so degrees. This s/w trough passage will also cause the ridge to retreat back west. Mid-week onward a rex block will form over the Pacific with some eastward migration of the high. Temperatures will warm back up into next weekend. Both the GFS and Euro show the low within the rex block lifting northeast, but with little consequence to the area. Neither model shows much in the way of QPF, so it would just bring an increase in clouds. The GFS lifts it through on Friday and the Euro on Saturday. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 927 PM MST Sat Jan 31 2026 VFR conditions will continue with SKC-FEW250. Winds will be light and variable throughout the period. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 126 PM MST Sat Jan 31 2026 Still looking at minimal fire weather concerns through the period. High temperatures will warm to about to about 5-10 degrees above normal by Monday. A weak disturbance over Colorado will be enough to produce some westerly wind gusts around 20 to 25 mph Monday afternoon, but Min RH values will range from around 20 to 30 percent, even higher over Otero and Hudspeth Counties. This bit of wind and deeper mixing will boost vent rates significantly across the region Monday, with "Good" or better conditions over most of the higher terrain. Poor conditions will hold on in the Tularosa Basin. Higher elevation sites will hold onto "Fair" conditions Tuesday, but they will worsen elsewhere, with some improvement Wednesday. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 35 65 40 70 / 0 0 0 0 Sierra Blanca 31 60 36 65 / 0 0 0 0 Las Cruces 31 61 35 66 / 0 0 0 0 Alamogordo 29 61 33 63 / 0 0 0 0 Cloudcroft 26 45 28 45 / 0 0 0 0 Truth or Consequences 34 62 36 68 / 0 0 0 0 Silver City 33 60 35 62 / 0 0 0 0 Deming 31 64 35 70 / 0 0 0 0 Lordsburg 31 63 35 67 / 0 0 0 0 West El Paso Metro 38 63 42 68 / 0 0 0 0 Dell City 26 59 29 64 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Hancock 33 67 38 71 / 0 0 0 0 Loma Linda 35 58 39 61 / 0 0 0 0 Fabens 33 66 38 70 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Teresa 32 62 36 68 / 0 0 0 0 White Sands HQ 36 62 40 67 / 0 0 0 0 Jornada Range 28 63 33 67 / 0 0 0 0 Hatch 29 65 33 72 / 0 0 0 0 Columbus 34 64 38 70 / 0 0 0 0 Orogrande 30 61 34 64 / 0 0 0 0 Mayhill 28 58 32 59 / 0 0 0 0 Mescalero 26 56 29 56 / 0 0 0 0 Timberon 28 52 32 53 / 0 0 0 0 Winston 26 57 27 65 / 0 0 0 0 Hillsboro 34 62 37 68 / 0 0 0 0 Spaceport 28 62 31 66 / 0 0 0 0 Lake Roberts 29 61 32 62 / 0 0 0 0 Hurley 30 61 33 65 / 0 0 0 0 Cliff 29 68 32 70 / 0 0 0 0 Mule Creek 31 65 33 65 / 0 0 0 0 Faywood 34 60 38 65 / 0 0 0 0 Animas 30 64 35 69 / 0 0 0 0 Hachita 29 62 34 68 / 0 0 0 0 Antelope Wells 31 63 38 70 / 0 0 0 0 Cloverdale 36 60 42 63 / 0 0 0 0 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. NM...None. && FORECASTER...34-Brown
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
The entire zone remained in Severe(D2) drought through the month of February. The Cooperative Observer in Cliff reported 0.41 inches of precipitation which was 0.68 inches below normal.
Severe(D2) drought continued across the zone through the month of February.
No changed was noted in drought conditions in February with Severe(D2) drought continuing over all but the far western areas which remained in Moderate(D1) drought. The Cooperative Observer at Redrock reported 0.37 inches of precipitation which was 0.44 inches below normal.
Severe(D2) drought continued for all areas except the far west where Moderate(D1) drought continued. The Antelope Wells Cooperative Observer reported 0.13 inches of precipitation which was 0.30 inches below normal.
Severe(D2) drought conditions remained in place for all but the the far western portion of the zone where Moderate(D1) drought continued.
The month started out with the entire zone in Severe(D2) drought. By the end of February, the west remained in Severe(D2) drought and improved to Abnormally Dry(D0) drought over the southeast. The Deming Airport reported 0.09 inches of precipitation which was 0.53 inches below normal.
The entire zone remained in Severe(D2) drought throughout the month of February. The Hillsboro Cooperative Observer reported 0.06 inches of precipitation which was 0.36 inches below normal.
The month started with the entire zone in Severe(D2) drought. By the end of February, the southeast portion of the zone improved to Moderate(D1) drought with no change elsewhere. The Truth or Consequences Airport reported 0.03 inches of precipitation which was 0.27 inches below normal.
Severe(D2) drought continued through the month of February. The White Signal Cooperative Observer reported 0.48 inches of precipitation which was 0.58 inches below normal.
The entire zone remained in Severe(D2) drought during the month of February.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, February 2026
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: 1310116, 1310117, 1310118, 1310119, 1310120, 1310121, 1310122, 1310123, 1310124, 1310125.