Dust Storm — Chaves County Plains, New Mexico

2025-04-28 · Chaves County Plains, New Mexico

Event narrative

Near zero visibility from blowing dust resulted in the closure of State Highway 2 from mile marker 17, Hagerman to mile marker 21, 1 mile north of Greenfield.

Wider weather episode

Deep daytime mixing allowed strong winds at the base of an upper low over the Great Plains to mix down to the surface across southern and eastern NM. This resulted in a brief high wind gust of 58 mph at the Roswell Air Center. The strong winds resulted in some blowing dust in the Hagerman area which led to an approximately 2 hour closure of State Highway 2. Strong winds and blowing dust subsided during the mid evening hours.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1238941. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.