High Wind — Southwest Mountains, New Mexico

2023-04-03 to 2023-04-04 · Southwest Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

The Magdalena Ridge Observatory mesonet station measured a peak wind gust of 80 mph. The station regularly saw gusts greater than 60 mph for April 3rd and April 4th.

Wider weather episode

A strong segment of the jetstream associated with a larger upper level storm system passed over NM April 3, 2023. Strong southwesterly winds were associated with this storm system and reached the portions of west-central, northwestern, the northern mountains and adjacent highlands during the 3rd. A cold front passed west to east across NM that night into the morning of April 4, 2023 bringing a westerly and northwesterly wind shift. More widespread high winds resulted behind this system as it exited into the Great Plains on the 4th. High wind reports were observed across much of southwestern, central, and eastern sections of the state. Despite there being many reports of 60 to 70 mph wind gusts, there were no shared reports of damage. A couple of small fires started in the high winds, but no damage was reported from these.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1080148. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.