Near to below normal precipitation amounts over southwest New Mexico kept Severe(D2) drought conditions going through the month of March.
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.
Near to below normal precipitation amounts over southwest New Mexico kept Severe(D2) drought conditions going through the month of March.
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, 9:59 PM MST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM 959 PM MST Sat Feb 28 2026 ...New DISCUSSION, AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 908 PM MST Sat Feb 28 2026 - Record warmth through Monday with lowland highs well into the eighties, around 20 degrees above normal. - Fire danger increases during the workweek due to continued dry weather, breezy conditions, and above normal warmth. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 908 PM MST Sat Feb 28 2026 Our unseasonable warmth persists through at least Monday as the upper ridge flattens out and translates eastward across northern Mexico. High temps will reach the mid-upper 80s for the lowlands through Mon, breaking daily records. Winds will be modestly breezy on Sun, gusting to 20-25 mph from the west. A bit breezier for Monday as an upper-level trough moves into the Intermountain West with deeper SW flow aloft. This disturbance passes well to the north on Tue, resulting in sfc low development in the TX Panhandle Tue afternoon. 850mb winds are only modeled to be around 20kts, so a typical breezy, spring day can be expected for Tue with minor impacts. Fire danger will be the main concern to start the workweek due to the breezy W-SW winds and continued dry pattern, although the fuels aren't very conducive for rapid fire spreads (ERCs are near or just above the 50th percentile, but will be trending up). Blowing dust is a minor threat as well on Tue with gusts to 30-35 mph; impacts should be localized and I don't expect VIS to fall lower than 3 miles. We'll be in between systems on Wed with weaker zonal flow keeping winds lighter. Our next system looks to impact us late in the week with some wind and then possibly rain chances into next weekend as a lobe of energy attempts to cut off to our west. There is some uncertainty, but Thu appears to be another typical breezy day as one shortwave passes to the north; low concerns for fire wx and dust. Then, both global AI ensemble means show an upper trough digging south near Baja and cutting off, scooping up subtropical moisture for next weekend. Confidence is low in this pattern producing rain/thunderstorm chances for us as the models could change drastically, but it's something to watch. Temperatures will begin a downward trend beginning on Tue, falling to near normal by next weekend behind the series of troughs. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 908 PM MST Sat Feb 28 2026 VFR conditions prevail through the forecast period. Winds remain AOB 8kts mostly from W through the morning, increasing a bit after 18z with gusts up to 20kts. FEW-SCT250 pass overhead into the AM. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 846 AM MST Sat Feb 28 2026 Above normal warmth and very dry conditions will continue each day through the end of the work week. This weekend and into Monday will be the warmest days of the week, especially Sunday. Light winds expected Sunday with 20 foot winds of 8-12 mph generally out of the west. Winds pick up starting Monday and can be expected each afternoon except for Wednesday where light winds are expected. 20 foot wind speeds will generally be 10-15 mph. A couple of passing storm systems to our north will bring these breezy conditions and will cool temperatures down slightly to what we're expecting this weekend and Monday, but temperatures will still be above normal. Min RHs will be critical across the lowlands with values dipping down into the single digits (7-10%) Sunday through Friday. Near critical min RHs in the mountains (15-20%). Ventilation rates will be good to very good Sunday and Wednesday but will be very good to excellent every day of the work week except Wednesday. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 54 87 53 89 / 0 0 0 0 Sierra Blanca 51 84 51 85 / 0 0 0 0 Las Cruces 48 84 48 84 / 0 0 0 0 Alamogordo 48 83 49 85 / 0 0 0 0 Cloudcroft 42 61 43 62 / 0 0 0 0 Truth or Consequences 50 84 50 85 / 0 0 0 0 Silver City 48 77 48 75 / 0 0 0 0 Deming 47 88 47 88 / 0 0 0 0 Lordsburg 47 82 47 83 / 0 0 0 0 West El Paso Metro 55 86 55 87 / 0 0 0 0 Dell City 45 87 45 90 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Hancock 52 91 52 92 / 0 0 0 0 Loma Linda 53 79 53 81 / 0 0 0 0 Fabens 51 89 51 90 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Teresa 49 85 49 86 / 0 0 0 0 White Sands HQ 55 86 55 86 / 0 0 0 0 Jornada Range 45 84 46 86 / 0 0 0 0 Hatch 45 89 46 88 / 0 0 0 0 Columbus 52 88 51 89 / 0 0 0 0 Orogrande 48 83 49 85 / 0 0 0 0 Mayhill 45 77 46 76 / 0 0 0 0 Mescalero 43 73 45 74 / 0 0 0 0 Timberon 48 71 48 71 / 0 0 0 0 Winston 40 78 40 76 / 0 0 0 0 Hillsboro 50 84 50 83 / 0 0 0 0 Spaceport 43 84 44 85 / 0 0 0 0 Lake Roberts 42 76 43 74 / 0 0 0 0 Hurley 45 80 45 79 / 0 0 0 0 Cliff 43 84 43 83 / 0 0 0 0 Mule Creek 45 79 45 77 / 0 0 0 0 Faywood 50 81 49 79 / 0 0 0 0 Animas 49 84 48 86 / 0 0 0 0 Hachita 48 84 47 85 / 0 0 0 0 Antelope Wells 48 86 48 86 / 0 0 0 0 Cloverdale 52 80 53 79 / 0 0 0 0 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. NM...None. && FORECASTER...39-Aronson
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 March. The Cooperative Observer in Cliff received 0.64 inches of precipitation which was 0.01 inches above normal.
Severe(D2) drought continued through the entire month.
Severe(D2) drought continued across all areas except the far west where Moderate(D1) drought remained in place. The Cooperative Observer at Redrock received 0.47 inches of precipitation which was 0.10 inches below normal.
The far western portion of the zone remained in Moderate(D1) drought while the remainder of the zone continued in Severe(D2) drought. The Cooperative Observer at Antelope Wells received 0.87 inches of precipitation which was 0.50 inches above normal.
Severe(D2) drought continued across the zone except the far west where Moderate(D1) drought remained in place.
Drought conditions ranged from Severe(D2) drought over the west to Abnormally Dry(D0) over the southeast. The Deming Airport reported 0.37 inches of precipitation which was 0.07 inches above normal.
Severe(D2) drought continued across the entire zone in March. The Hillsboro Cooperative Observer reported just a trace of precipitation which was 0.30 inches below normal.
Severe(D2) drought remained across the entire zone except the southeast where Moderate(D1) drought persisted. The Truth or Consequences Airport recorded just a trace of precipitation which was 0.24 below normal.
Severe(D2) drought continued throughout the entire month. The White Signal Cooperative Observer reported just a trace of precipitation which was 0.24 inches below normal.
The entire zone remained in Severe(D2) drought throughout the month of March.
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, March 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: 1318052, 1318053, 1318054, 1318055, 1318056, 1318057, 1318059, 1318072, 1318081, 1318082.