Dust Storm — Chaves County Plains, New Mexico

2025-03-07 · Chaves County Plains, New Mexico

Event narrative

The Roswell Relief Route from mile marker 108, Sunset Avenue, to mile marker 111, McGaffey Road, was closed due to brownout conditions and near zero visibility from blowing dust.

Wider weather episode

An upper trough over the Great Basin deepened into an upper low and dug south over Arizona during the day of March 7th. Gusty west winds across Roswell resulted in more blowing dust across the Roswell Relief Route. Lift from a Pacific front ahead of the eastward moving upper low combined with a backdoor front draped across northern New Mexico resulted in the development of snow across western, northern, and east central New Mexico late March 7th though the middle of March 8th. Generally, 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across western New Mexico, around 10 to 20 inches of snow across the northern mountains and east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and 4 to 6 inches across the northeast and east central plains. Snow came to an end during the day of March 8th as the upper low exited east of the state.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1233971. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.