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Tornado in Colfax County, New Mexico

Tornado July 15, 2023 · Colfax County, New Mexico

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Not rated

0.7 mi

Path length

10 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 10 yards (0.01 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

Not rated. NOAA lists no rating for this tornado. Ratings come from surveying damage, and the National Weather Service now records “EFU” (unknown) when a tornado hit nothing a survey team could rate.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A cone tornado was reported by storm chasers just southeast of the intersection of NM 39 and U.S. Highway 56. The tornado lasted three minutes and was rain-wrapped for a time.

The wider storm

Higher low-level moisture on July 13th and a backdoor cold front replenishing this moisture for July 14th and 15th combined with robust upper level wind shear produced three days of severe weather across eastern NM. Severe weather impacts were limited to northeastern NM on the 13th and 14th, becoming more widespread across northeastern and east-central NM on the 15th. There were a few thunderstorm wind gusts measured in the vicinity of the White Sands Missile Range on the 13th and 14th, likely from dry microbursts as the exception for the 13th and 14th. More substantial reports of damage and large hail occurred on the 15th ranging from broken skylights, flooding, accumulated hail, and a tornado. Thankfully, there were no reports of injuries or casualties.

Began near Abbott (36.2700, -104.2200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1100761. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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