Thunderstorm Wind — Quay, New Mexico

2024-09-17 · near (tcc)tucumcari Arpt, Quay, New Mexico

Event narrative

The county Emergency Manager and Quay County Sun newspaper reported 10 commercial vehicles were blown over on I-40 due to severe thunderstorm wind gusts. This along with 7 other simultaneous crashes closed I-40 for several hours in both directions. Several people were taken to the local hospital in Tucumcari as emergency response from Logan, San Jon, Tucumcari and the Quay Fire District 2 responded to the incident.

Wider weather episode

The combination of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the remnants of Tropical Storm Ileana across eastern NM underlaid strengthening southwesterly flow aloft ahead of an approaching storm system over UT and ID. The strong shear and abundant moisture allowed for scattered strong to severe thunderstorms to develop along the central mountain chain and Rio Grande Valley by the early afternoon. Thunderstorm activity then advanced eastward toward the TX line through the afternoon and early evening hours. Individual storm cells were able to transport high winds aloft to the surface in several locations across eastern NM, including Clayton, Nara Visa, San Jon, Santa Fe and Portales, NM. Power outages were reported along with large tree limbs being snapped.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.1600, -103.4600)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1203155. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.