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Tornado in Chaves County, New Mexico

Tornado May 6, 2025 · Chaves County, New Mexico

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Not rated

1.2 mi

Path length

15 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 15 yards (0.01 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

Not rated. NOAA lists no rating for this tornado. Ratings come from surveying damage, and the National Weather Service now records “EFU” (unknown) when a tornado hit nothing a survey team could rate.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A trained spotter reported a landspout northwest of the Roswell Correctional Facility, lasting only a few minutes. Path and length are an estimate based on radar imagery and report information.

The wider storm

Abundant moisture pushed east to west across NM behind a strong cold front ahead of a strong upper level low approaching from AZ. The abundant moisture and favorable weather setup allowed for multiple days of strong to severe thunderstorms to develop across northern and central NM from May 4th through the 6th. Alongside all of this was unseasonably cold weather at higher elevations of the northern mountains. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains received 1 to 3 feet of snow at higher elevations above 9,500 feet. These high snow amounts ended up melting fairly quickly or succumbed to rain on snow events producing flooding impacts over portions of the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that lasted into May 8th.

Key Words: Heavy Snow, Severe Thunderstorms, River Flooding.

Began near (row)roswell Ind Airport (33.2246, -104.5856).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1242337. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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