Tornado in Sandoval County, New Mexico

Damage survey used video submitted to broadcast media to pinpoint the location of the tornado however the survey found few if any damage indicators for a damage rating. The only tree damage may have been from prior high winds and fire. A couple of ranches and residents along with a neighborhood to the SE of the location did not have any damages or downed trees in a pattern consistent with tornado damage. Other roads were restricted, and the survey could not access areas where tornado damage was suspected. Elevation at the location of the tornado was 8150 feet.

An upper low over the Great Basin progressed east towards Colorado during the day Saturday. At the surface, a backdoor front pushed as far west as the Continental Divide with higher surface moisture across the Upper and Middle Rio Grande Valley and eastern New Mexico east of the front. Lift ahead of the upper low, interacting with the higher moisture along with high vertical wind shear resulted in the development of severe storms across central New Mexico with one storm spawning a tornado in the Jemez Mountains northeast of Battleship Rock. Storms then moved east into the highlands and plains of eastern New Mexico during the evening hours where they produced quarter to golf ball size hail. A storm that produced golf ball sized hail in southern Chaves County also caused some flash flooding along State Highway 13 and on the normally dry Rio Felix. Storms exited east into Texas by midnight.

Key Words: Tornado, Hail, Flash Flood, Thunderstorm Wind Gust.