Strong Wind — Guadalupe, New Mexico

2022-07-19 · Guadalupe, New Mexico

Event narrative

A trained spotter traveling on Interstate 40 near mile marker 286 near Santa Rosa reported that strong winds overturned a semi-truck. This was likely due to a microburst, and the nearby Santa Rosa AWOS was only reporting winds of 17 mph at the time of the accident. There was no information on injuries. Damages are estimated for the semi-truck.

Wider weather episode

After an active start to the monsoon season, the middle of July brought a lull in the action as the high pressure system built over New Mexico, resulting in hot and dry conditions. A backdoor cold front that moved through eastern New Mexico late on July 18, 2022 helped to replenish some moisture, but large dewpoint depressions still existed on July 19th. Isolated to widely scattered thunderstorms still developed on the afternoon thanks to the backdoor cold front, but with a lot of dry air still in place, gusty and erratic winds were more common than wetting precipitation. One of these thunderstorms along Interstate 40 near Santa Rosa likely produced a microburst which overturned a semi-truck.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1030022. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.