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High Wind in Southern Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

High Wind December 8, 2009 · Southern Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

74 mph
Measured gust (64 kt)
$4.0M
Damage as recorded

What the National Weather Service wrote

Winds gusted to over 70 mph in the Sacramento Mountains with the strongest gust of 74 mph being reported at the RAWS site 2 miles east-northeast of Mescalero (MSCN5). Several RAWS sites lost power and stopped reporting before the strongest winds, so peak gusts were likely much higher than 74 mph. State of Emergency was declared in and around the Cloudcroft area with widespread power lines down. Electricity not restored for over a week in some locations. Roofs were blown off some houses and an awning/false front fell from a building on Burro Street in Cloudcroft. Dozens of trees were blown over in the area, a few of them falling on houses.

The wider storm

An upper low/trough centered over the Colorado Rockies with an associated 150kt jet located over southern New Mexico and far West Texas brought wind gusts over 100 mph to areas along and east of I-25. Considerable damage and power outages were reported in the Sacramento Mountains and east of the Organ Mountains.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 202345. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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