A weak disturbance moving across the Intermountain West combined with intense daytime heating resulting in scattered high based evaporating showers and dry thunderstorms across western and central New Mexico during the afternoon hours on May 13th. These showers resulted in dry microbursts at the Farmington Four Corners Regional Airport and the NMDOT weather station along I-40 at SR6 in Laguna…
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The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.
A weak disturbance moving across the Intermountain West combined with intense daytime heating resulting in scattered high based evaporating showers and dry thunderstorms across western and central New Mexico during the afternoon hours on May 13th. These showers resulted in dry microbursts at the Farmington Four Corners Regional Airport and the NMDOT weather station along I-40 at SR6 in Laguna Pueblo. High based shower and thunderstorm activity across western and central New Mexico dissipated around sunset with the loss of daytime heating. Two rounds of high based shower and thunderstorm activity developed across the eastern plains of New Mexico during the afternoon hours on May 14th and 15th with dry microbursts in Clayton. High based shower and thunderstorm activity exited east into west Texas and tapered off during the evening hours, with one area of collapsing showers resulting in a heat burst at the Fort Sumner Municipal Airport late on May 14th.
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 May 13, 12:46 PM MST, 50 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 146 PM MDT Wed May 13 2026 ...New SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, FIRE WEATHER... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 136 PM MDT Wed May 13 2026 - Minor to moderate risk of heat-related illness for sensitive populations through Saturday across the lower elevations of central and eastern New Mexico due to near-record heat. - Localized erratic wind gust to 50 mph or greater from isolated showers and storms, with little to no rainfall, today across much of western and northern New Mexico then in eastern New Mexico on Thursday. - Moderate chance (30-50%) of critical fire weather conditions in northern and eastern New Mexico Thursday, with a high chance (60-80%) on Sunday due to strengthening winds. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Thursday night) Issued at 136 PM MDT Wed May 13 2026 High-based showers and isolated storms developing over central and western NM this afternoon will move northward while increasing in coverage thru early evening. The 18Z KABQ RAOB showed DCAPE values near 1500 J/kg with an impressive inverted-V profile to 500mb and a PWAT of 0.41". Mid and upper level moisture will continue spreading into the area thru this evening as indicated by NAEFS PWATs rising to near +2 standard deviations above climo. Unfortunately, top-down moistening will be very difficult with a very dry low level airmass in place. 12 HREF max 3-hr QPF barely shows 0.10" in a few areas so the overall impact will be downburst wind gusts >50 mph. Temps again tonight will be well above normal with mid and high level clouds taking much of the night to dissipate over central and eastern NM. Thursday will be similar to today but with high-based showers and mostly dry storms focused across eastern NM. Central and western NM will trend drier with mostly sunny skies, slight westerly breezes, and hot temperatures. && .LONG TERM... (Friday through Tuesday) Issued at 136 PM MDT Wed May 13 2026 The weak shortwave trough responsible for the more active weather today and Thursday will shift east off the Front Range Friday. A weak backdoor cold front moving southwest into northeast NM will increase low level moisture westward to the Sangre de Cristo Mts. A few more showers and storms are possible (20-40% chance) with gusty outflow winds and brief rain again. The rest of the area will remain hot and dry with lighter winds compared to prior days. A longwave upper level trough building south into the PacNW will allow southwest flow aloft to increase over NM Saturday. This will help to increase southwest winds areawide (gusts 20-30 mph) with even hotter temps and very low humidity. The longwave trough is shown ejecting a leading trough axis thru the central Rockies Sunday with 700-500mb winds of 25-35 kt and surface low pressure deepening to between 987mb and 992mb over southeast CO. The latest 12Z model H5 spread has increased with timing and depth issues present again. Model discrepancies persist into Monday as well. Either way, southwest to west winds will trend stronger with very low humidity and slightly cooler temps both days. LREF wind gust probabilities >40 mph are still only 10-30% both days while the latest NBM shows the highest probs on Sunday (20-40% chance). A pattern change toward more showers and storms may arrive across eastern NM Tuesday depending on how the H5 pattern evolves Sunday and Monday. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1135 AM MDT Wed May 13 2026 High-based SHRA/TS developing over the southern high terrain late this morning will increase in coverage thru late this afternoon and early evening. Activity will move north/northeast around 15KT and be capable of producing erratic, downburst wind gusts greater than 45KT, brief rain, tiny hail, and localized mt obscurations. Convection will give way to broken mid and high level clouds over the region thru late tonight with decreasing winds. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 136 PM MDT Wed May 13 2026 Scattered showers and isolated dry storms across central and western NM today will move north-northeast around 15 mph into the high plains of eastern NM thru this evening. Erratic downburst wind gusts >50 mph are expected from the stronger activity along with several lightning strikes. Another round of gusty showers and dry storms will develop over eastern NM Thursday then move east into TX during the evening. While breezy west winds will coincide with subcritical humidity for a few hours over the high plains of eastern NM, confidence is not high enough to upgrade the Fire Weather Watch given 1-hr and 10-hr fuel moisture near average over parts of eastern NM, ERC values below the 75th percentile, and RFTIs in the 3 to 4 range. Central and western NM will trend much drier with breezy west winds and hot temperatures. A weak backdoor cold front will enter northeast NM Friday with just enough moisture and instability to develop a few storms east of the Sangre de Cristo Mts. The rest of the area will remain hot and dry with lighter winds compared to previous days. A fire growing pattern will return Saturday thru Monday as an upper level trough passes north of NM. Elevated to locally critical fire weather will begin Saturday and may peak Sunday with widespread critical to potentially extreme fire weather. The dry and windy pattern may linger into Monday depending on how the upper level trough evolves across the southwest U.S. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 52 84 46 85 / 20 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 44 80 34 83 / 10 0 0 0 Cuba............................ 49 80 43 80 / 10 0 0 0 Gallup.......................... 44 79 41 81 / 5 0 0 0 El Morro........................ 47 77 44 78 / 10 0 0 0 Grants.......................... 48 81 45 82 / 20 0 0 0 Quemado......................... 47 80 42 79 / 10 0 0 0 Magdalena....................... 54 82 52 80 / 20 5 0 0 Datil........................... 50 79 47 77 / 20 0 0 0 Reserve......................... 47 85 40 84 / 5 0 0 0 Glenwood........................ 51 88 45 88 / 5 0 0 0 Chama........................... 42 75 36 77 / 10 0 0 0 Los Alamos...................... 58 80 53 79 / 10 0 0 10 Pecos........................... 51 80 47 80 / 20 5 5 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 50 77 44 77 / 10 0 0 0 Red River....................... 44 72 36 72 / 10 5 0 10 Angel Fire...................... 45 73 38 73 / 20 0 0 10 Taos............................ 47 81 38 81 / 10 0 0 0 Mora............................ 51 80 48 79 / 20 5 5 20 Espanola........................ 55 87 47 86 / 10 5 0 0 Santa Fe........................ 55 81 50 80 / 20 5 0 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 53 84 46 83 / 10 5 0 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 61 88 56 86 / 10 5 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 57 89 53 88 / 10 5 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 57 92 52 90 / 10 0 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 59 90 54 88 / 10 0 0 0 Belen........................... 56 91 51 89 / 20 0 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 58 91 53 89 / 10 0 0 0 Bosque Farms.................... 55 91 50 89 / 20 0 0 0 Corrales........................ 59 91 53 90 / 10 0 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 56 91 52 89 / 20 0 0 0 Placitas........................ 60 86 55 84 / 10 5 0 0 Rio Rancho...................... 59 90 53 89 / 10 0 0 0 Socorro......................... 60 93 57 91 / 20 5 5 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 57 83 52 81 / 20 5 0 0 Tijeras......................... 56 85 50 83 / 10 5 0 0 Edgewood........................ 55 86 49 84 / 20 10 5 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 51 86 45 84 / 20 10 5 0 Clines Corners.................. 54 81 50 80 / 20 10 5 0 Mountainair..................... 54 85 50 82 / 20 10 5 0 Gran Quivira.................... 55 83 52 81 / 20 10 5 0 Carrizozo....................... 62 87 57 84 / 20 5 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 59 81 57 78 / 20 5 5 0 Capulin......................... 52 81 46 77 / 10 10 5 20 Raton........................... 51 85 44 82 / 10 5 5 20 Springer........................ 52 87 45 84 / 10 5 5 20 Las Vegas....................... 54 82 50 82 / 20 5 5 10 Clayton......................... 61 90 57 86 / 10 20 10 20 Roy............................. 56 86 50 84 / 20 10 5 20 Conchas......................... 61 95 53 93 / 10 10 5 0 Santa Rosa...................... 57 90 55 89 / 10 10 5 0 Tucumcari....................... 65 97 56 96 / 10 20 10 0 Clovis.......................... 60 97 59 96 / 0 20 10 0 Portales........................ 60 97 60 97 / 0 20 10 0 Fort Sumner..................... 60 95 57 94 / 5 20 10 0 Roswell......................... 63 97 63 96 / 0 10 5 0 Picacho......................... 59 91 60 89 / 10 10 5 0 Elk............................. 58 90 57 88 / 10 5 5 0 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Fire Weather Watch from Thursday afternoon through Thursday evening for NMZ104-123-125-126. && SHORT TERM...42 LONG TERM....42 AVIATION...42
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
211 PM MDT Wed May 13 2026
NMZ207-219-132045-
Middle Rio Grande Valley including the Albuquerque Metro Area NM-
West Central Highlands NM-
211 PM MDT Wed May 13 2026
...A LINE OF SHOWERS AND BLOWING DUST WILL IMPACT NORTH CENTRAL
VALENCIA...BERNALILLO AND SOUTH CENTRAL SANDOVAL COUNTIES UNTIL 245
PM MDT...
At 211 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a line of showers extending
from 9 miles southwest of Torreon to 8 miles northwest of Los Lunas,
moving northeast at 15 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph, and blowing dust reducing
visibility.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects.
Locations impacted include...
Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Corrales, Los Ranchos De
Albuquerque, Bosque Farms, Paradise Hills, Cabezon, Rio Rancho
Intel Area and Northern Meadows.
This includes the following highways...
Interstate 40 between Mile Markers 137 and 166. Highway 550 between
Mile Markers 1 and 10...and near Mile Marker 18. Interstate 25
between Mile Markers 206 and 241.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Monitor the weather situation closely and be alert for threatening
weather conditions.
Blowing dust associated with strong winds can reduce visibility below
one quarter mile at times.
&&
LAT...LON 3504 10702 3512 10705 3541 10717 3550 10673
3527 10650 3525 10651 3522 10651 3521 10650
3487 10655 3482 10695
TIME...MOT...LOC 2009Z 244DEG 12KT 3536 10702 3514 10694 3488 10687
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH
24The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 217 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:38 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The ASOS at the Farmington Four Corners Regional Airport measured a brief 60 mph wind gust from an evaporating shower induced dry microburst.
An NMDOT mesonet site along I-40 at SR 6 in Laguna Pueblo measured a brief 60 mph wind gust from an evaporating shower induced dry microburst.
The ASOS at Clayton Municipal Airport measured a brief 58 mph wind gust due to a dry microburst from a high based thunderstorm.
A NASA Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather station at Fort Sumner Municipal Airport measured a brief 67 mph wind gust due to a heat burst caused by nearby collapsing showers.
A mesonet station near Clayton Municipal Airport measured a brief 60 mph wind gust due to a microburst from a high based thunderstorm.
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, May 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: 1323787, 1323791, 1323985, 1324158, 1324163.