High Wind — Chaves County Plains, New Mexico

2024-04-25 · Chaves County Plains, New Mexico

Event narrative

The ASOS at the Roswell Air Center measured a peak wind gust of 75 mph. This resulted in blowing dust across the area with visibility at the Roswell Air Center as low as 3 statute miles. There were no reports of road closures due to the blowing dust.

Wider weather episode

A shortwave trough moved across the Four Corners region and central Rockies during the day Thursday. Deep boundary layer mixing across eastern New Mexico behind a dryline allowed stronger winds aloft to mix down to the surface, resulting in high wind gusts during the afternoon and early evening hours across the south central mountains extending northeast to northeast New Mexico. Additionally, the cold front passage across western New Mexico during the evening hours resulted in one high wind gust at the Gallup Municipal Airport. Winds across the region tapered off around sunset.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1164612. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.