High winds associated with a weakening upper level system crossed New Mexico through the day January 2nd, 2026. Subsidence behind the front combined with some terrain interaction helped bring these winds to the surface to a few isolated locations of central NM, particularly western Guadalupe County.
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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 ABQ wrote it up.
High winds associated with a weakening upper level system crossed New Mexico through the day January 2nd, 2026. Subsidence behind the front combined with some terrain interaction helped bring these winds to the surface to a few isolated locations of central NM, particularly western Guadalupe County. Peak winds surpassed 67 mph at a ZiaMet location along U.S. Highway 285 southeast of Vaughn. No damage was reported.
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 Jan 2, 11:03 AM MST, 42 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1103 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 1052 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026 - Periods of wet roads are expected again today over west central areas, and along and west of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the Arizona border. A few inches of snow accumulation near and above 9,500 feet in the northern mountains will produce slick travel over the highest mountain passes. - Northwest wind gusts from 40 to 60 mph today will produce hazardous crosswinds on southwest-to-northeast oriented roads across the central highlands and eastern high plains. - Well above average temperatures will persist through Wednesday, especially across eastern areas, where a few new record high temperatures may be set on Sunday. && .SHORT TERM... (Today through Saturday) Issued at 1238 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026 An upper level trough exiting NV early this morning will track swiftly southeastward across north central and northeast NM this afternoon, while producing additional rain and mountain snow showers over west central and northern parts of the forecast area. Rain amounts will mostly remain under a tenth of an inch at lower elevations, and up to a quarter inch in the mountains, except for a few inches of snow in the northern mountains near and above 9500 feet. The heaviest precipitation will fall this morning in most locations, with decreasing precip coverage and intensity in the afternoon. An exception will be on the far northeast plains, where precip won't develop until this afternoon when the upper level trough crosses and a backdoor cold front arrives. High temperatures today will vary around 5 to 19 degrees above 1991-2020 averages. The upper level trough will also produce strong winds today as a gusty Pacific cold front crosses from the northwest. Wind speeds at 700 mb will peak around 40-50 KT along and just east of the central mountain chain with the strongest speeds over east central areas. A ~1000 mb surface low pressure system over far northeast NM will also produce the strongest surface pressure gradient across the central highlands and east central plains. Thus, the strongest wind gusts will generally peak around 50 mph today along and east of the central mountains, as far north as Las Vegas and as far south as northern Lincoln County. A brief period of 60 mph wind gusts is also likely in the typically favored high wind zone from Clines Corners to Vaughn. In the wake of the storm system, low temperatures tonight will fall around 4 to 19 degrees from last night's readings, while remaining around 4 to 12 degrees above 30-year averages. A ridge of high pressure will then cross from the west on Saturday enabling high temperatures to climb around 7 to 17 degrees above 30-year averages. && .LONG TERM... (Saturday night through Thursday) Issued at 1238 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026 Warming temperatures are expected in most locations on Sunday as the ridge of high pressure lingers over NM. Highs should peak around 10-21 degrees above 1991-2020 averages Sunday, when a few record and near record high temperatures are forecast central and east. High temperatures will trend cooler Monday and Tuesday as cloud cover increases ahead of an upper level low moving into the southwest US. Weak disturbances will eject northeastward from the base of the approaching storm system, and these will give parts of the forecast area along and west of the continental divide a roughly 10-30 percent chance of rain showers and mountain snow showers Monday through Tuesday night. At this time, ensemble cluster analysis depicts the upper low opening into a trough by the time it passes eastward over NM Wednesday, when scattered to isolated light rain and very high terrain snow showers are forecast along and west of the central mountain chain with the best chance for any wetting precip along and west of the south central mountains. Thus, the cooling trend will continue almost areawide on Wednesday, and also into Thursday when precip chances will probably increase over central and western areas as another upper level trough approaches NM from the northwest. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1052 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026 Low clouds and fog will continue to diminish through the late morning. Some MVFR ceilings may linger in west central New Mexico along with some light sprinkles through noon. The northern high terrain will see some light drizzle and snow over the next few hours as well, before conditions clear out for the evening. The main concern for today will be gusty northwest winds, particularly for areas along and east of the central mountain chain. The central highlands will see the strongest winds, but areas farther east in the plains such as KTCC and KROW may see gusts in the 30kt range. Lower confidence for the Rio Grande Valley to see strong winds, but gusts of 25 kts are not out of the question for the mid afternoon. Winds will diminish over the evening at most sites, which may allow for some low clouds and fog to develop over northern portions of the state early tomorrow morning. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 1238 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026 Humidities will climb well above 15% for the next 7 days, except for some sub-15% humidities over the far northeast highlands and plains during the first half of next week. Wetting precip is expected in the northern mountains and across parts of northwest NM today, then it is probably not likely again until Thursday when when we are forecasting 15-35% chance of rain and mountain snow showers across central and western parts of the fire weather forecast area. After today's strong wind event and corresponding ventilation improvement, winds will weaken and widespread poor ventilation will develop Saturday. Winds will become gusty and vent rates will improve again along the central mountain chain and eastward across east central areas each afternoon next week. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 51 29 52 31 / 60 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 48 20 54 24 / 90 0 0 0 Cuba............................ 48 24 54 29 / 50 0 0 0 Gallup.......................... 51 20 57 24 / 30 0 0 0 El Morro........................ 47 26 58 30 / 40 0 0 0 Grants.......................... 53 21 59 26 / 20 0 0 0 Quemado......................... 51 26 63 29 / 20 0 0 0 Magdalena....................... 54 31 57 37 / 0 0 0 0 Datil........................... 50 29 58 32 / 0 0 0 0 Reserve......................... 61 23 65 27 / 10 0 0 0 Glenwood........................ 64 27 68 29 / 10 0 0 0 Chama........................... 40 20 49 24 / 80 0 0 0 Los Alamos...................... 48 30 52 34 / 50 0 0 0 Pecos........................... 51 29 57 32 / 30 0 0 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 47 26 53 31 / 40 0 0 0 Red River....................... 39 22 45 27 / 40 0 0 0 Angel Fire...................... 43 16 52 21 / 40 0 0 0 Taos............................ 50 21 55 24 / 50 0 0 0 Mora............................ 51 26 58 31 / 30 0 0 0 Espanola........................ 55 24 58 27 / 50 0 0 0 Santa Fe........................ 50 31 54 34 / 40 0 0 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 53 28 55 31 / 30 0 0 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 56 35 56 39 / 10 0 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 59 31 57 36 / 5 0 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 61 29 59 33 / 5 0 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 59 31 57 36 / 10 0 0 0 Belen........................... 61 26 58 29 / 0 0 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 58 30 58 35 / 20 0 0 0 Bosque Farms.................... 61 25 58 29 / 5 0 0 0 Corrales........................ 60 30 58 34 / 10 0 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 61 27 58 31 / 0 0 0 0 Placitas........................ 53 33 55 37 / 20 0 0 0 Rio Rancho...................... 58 31 58 35 / 10 0 0 0 Socorro......................... 65 32 61 35 / 0 0 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 51 30 54 34 / 10 0 0 0 Tijeras......................... 52 31 55 35 / 10 0 0 0 Edgewood........................ 54 28 57 32 / 5 0 0 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 56 24 59 26 / 0 0 0 0 Clines Corners.................. 52 29 55 32 / 0 0 0 0 Mountainair..................... 56 28 58 33 / 0 0 0 0 Gran Quivira.................... 57 28 60 33 / 0 0 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 59 32 63 36 / 0 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 55 34 60 37 / 0 0 0 0 Capulin......................... 58 26 55 32 / 10 0 0 0 Raton........................... 60 24 57 27 / 10 0 0 0 Springer........................ 61 23 60 25 / 0 0 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 55 27 58 31 / 10 0 0 0 Clayton......................... 67 33 60 39 / 30 0 0 0 Roy............................. 62 28 57 31 / 0 0 0 0 Conchas......................... 71 29 64 34 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 62 31 61 34 / 0 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 71 31 66 37 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 70 35 66 36 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 70 32 68 35 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 67 31 65 32 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 72 36 67 33 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 66 36 66 36 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 66 32 66 33 / 0 0 0 0 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 5 PM MST this afternoon for NMZ221-222-229- 232-234>237-239. High Wind Warning until 5 PM MST this afternoon for NMZ223-233. && SHORT TERM...44 LONG TERM....44 AVIATION...25
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
711 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0710 AM Snow 7 E Chupadero 35.79N 105.80W
01/02/2026 M1.0 Inch Santa Fe NM Public
Ski Santa Fe.
&&
CAPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
712 AM MST Fri Jan 2 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0712 AM Snow 11 NNW Canon Plaza 36.70N 106.25W
01/02/2026 E2.0 Inch Rio Arriba NM Other Federal
Hopewell SNOTEL.
&&
CAThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The mesonet station southeast of Vaughn recorded a gust that surpassed the instrumentation rating of 67 mph, while sustained winds regularly surpassed 40 mph. The Thompson Cattle Ranch mesonet station also measured a wind gust of 58 mph.
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, January 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: 1298928.