High Wind — Southern Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

2009-12-08 · Southern Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

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.

Wider weather episode

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_id 202345. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.