Dust Storm — Chaves County Plains, New Mexico

2024-06-17 · Chaves County Plains, New Mexico

Event narrative

The NMDOT reported localized blowing dust from a rogue high wind gust producing zero visibility along the Roswell Relief Route between mile markers 110 and 112 at the southwest edge of town. There were no reports of impacts.

Wider weather episode

June 17th saw a very hot and dry weather setup with moderate southwesterly prevailing winds aloft get mixed down to the surface near Roswell. What was likely downward momentum transfer, air speeding up as it descended to ground level, ended up producing a rogue 58 mph wind gust at the Roswell Airport. Localized blowing dust resulted from this, producing a very localized dust storm along the Roswell Relief Route on the southwest edge of town.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1176168. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.