High Wind in South Central Mountains, New Mexico

The AWOS at Sierra Blanca Regional Airport measured a peak wind gust of 61 mph and peak sustained winds of 52 mph. Additionally, the mesonet station at Nogal measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.

An upper low moved across the Great Basin and Northern and Central Rockies on May 13th into May 14th with strong winds at the base of the low over New Mexico. Deep daytime mixing allowed strong winds at the base of the low to mix down to the surface mainly during the afternoon through mid-evening hours resulting in gusty winds across western New Mexico and areas along and east of the central mountain chain. A brief high wind gust of 62 mph was observed at the Las Vegas Municipal Airport and a brief 60 mph was observed at the Sevilleta RAWS during the afternoon hours on May 13th. High winds were observed across the south central mountains from the mid-morning to early afternoon hours on May 14th. The gusty winds resulted in blowing dust across southern Chaves County on May 14th during the afternoon and early evening hours resulting in the closure of State Highway 2 at Hagerman. West winds tapered off across the region around sunset.

Key Words: High Winds, Dust Storm.