High Wind — Upper Tularosa Valley, New Mexico

2022-02-23 · Upper Tularosa Valley, New Mexico

Event narrative

A mesonet station southwest of Ancho measured a peak sustained wind speed of 40 mph.

Wider weather episode

A slow moving Pacific storm system brought a multitude of hazards to northern and central New Mexico from February 22, 2022 through February 24th. Ahead of this system, southwest flow aloft strengthened as this system steered a potent jet overhead. With deep mixing heights, these winds mixed down to the surface each day with gusts over 40 mph common areawide. With the core of this southwest-to-northeast oriented jet moving across the state on February 23th, surface winds peaked accordingly, especially across southern New Mexico. Wind gusts in excess of 50 mph were common with a couple sites in the lower Rio Grande Valley measuring high wind speeds over 58 mph. With dry conditions still in place, these winds resulted in areas of blowing dust and reduced visibility. The Sandia and Manzano Mountains, usually easily visible throughout the Albuquerque metro area, were obscured during the afternoon due to the blowing dust.

Meanwhile, an Arctic airmass surged into eastern and central New Mexico on February 22nd and 23rd, resulting in cold temperatures and setting the stage for snow across portions of the area. As this Pacific storm system dived southward closer to the Four Corners area, moisture ahead of it seeped into western New Mexico. This generated light snow shower activity starting late on February 21st, but snow showers peaked in coverage and intensity late on February 23rd as this system finally arrived to the Four Corners area. By the time snow tapered off during the morning of February 24th, northern and western mountains had received snow totals near a foot while lower elevations across the west received totals ranging from two to four inches. The Albuquerque and Santa Fe metro areas even picked up light snow accumulations of less than three inches. The combination of snow and cold temperatures from the Arctic airmass resulted in widespread difficult to severe travel conditions across western and central New Mexico. Impacts: high wind, blowing dust, strong crosswinds, heavy snow, icy roads.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1000560. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.