Dust Storm in Lower Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

Heavy blowing dust resulted in near zero visibility on I-25 from milepost 166 to milepost 167 north of Socorro.

An unseasonably and record deep upper trough for mid-March moved through the intermountain West late on March 13th closing off into a deep upper low on March 14th. Strong south to southwest winds ahead of the trough resulted in blowing dust across southern Chaves County resulting in the closure of NM Highway 2 at Hagerman. The Pacific front moved through the state during the overnight hours of March 13th into March 14th. Subsidence behind the Pacific front combined with strong mid and upper-level winds at the base of this trough, a strong pressure gradient south and west of the newly formed upper low and 975 mb surface low across the central Great Plains resulted in widespread high wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph across central New Mexico from the early morning to around midday and across eastern New Mexico during the morning through mid afternoon hours. These wind gusts behind the Pacific front resulted in wind damage across several zones in eastern New Mexico along with widespread blowing dust across the Lower Rio Grande Valley and eastern New Mexico. Strong and dangerous westerly crosswinds even closed down I-25 from Las Vegas to Raton during the late morning to mid afternoon hours. Winds and blowing dust subsided during the late afternoon and early evening hours as the strong storm system and associated higher mid and upper-level winds, exited east of the state.