Hail — Union, New Mexico

2024-05-15 · near Clayton, Union, New Mexico

Event narrative

A trained spotter at the local radio station on the south side of town reported ping pong ball size hail.

Wider weather episode

Mid-level moisture increased across New Mexico ahead of a weak upper low moving into the desert southwest. Additionally, low level moisture increased across far northeast NM behind a backdoor cold front. This added moisture allowed for showers and storms to develop over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains midday moving east across Colfax and Union Counties during the early afternoon. One storm became severe near Grenville, travelling southeast along U.S. Highway 64 and 87 and moved through Clayton giving most of the town nickel to quarter size hail and southern areas of town ping pong ball size hail under the core of the storm. The storm exited into the Texas panhandle shortly after 15:00 local time.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.4300, -103.1700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1167193. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.