High Wind — Central Tularosa Basin, New Mexico

2019-03-13 · Central Tularosa Basin, New Mexico

Event narrative

A mesonet site at Northrup Strip recorded a peak gust of 71 mph. Other sites in the zone with strong wind gusts included 70 mph 20 miles west-northwest of Tularosa, 69 mph three miles north-northeast of Capitol Peak and 58 mph nine miles west of Tularosa.

Wider weather episode

A deep upper level cutoff low was moving through the New Mexico/Colorado region with a a surface low moving from the eastern plains of Colorado into western Kansas. This system had an upper level jet of over 110 knots over southern New Mexico which allowed winds in excess of 100 mph around Cloudcroft, where significant damage was reported, as well as San Augustin Pass.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 813780. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.