High Wind — South Central Mountains, New Mexico

2024-10-29 · South Central Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

Peak wind gusts of up to 66 mph and peak sustained winds of up to 49 mph were observed at Sierra Blanca Regional Airport. Additionally, peak wind gusts of up to 60 mph was observed at the Smokey Bear mesonet.

Wider weather episode

Strong upper level winds ahead of a deep upper level trough moved over New Mexico during the day on October 29th. Deep daytime mixing helped bring some of these stronger winds down to the surface with sustained high winds and gusts at several locations across the state. Strong south and southwest winds resulted in blowing dust across Roswell with visibility at the Roswell Air Center briefly dropping down to as low as a quarter of a mile. Bowing dust in Roswell and high winds across the state settled down just after sunset.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1214548. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.