Tornado in San Miguel County, New Mexico

Multiple sources reported a large cone tornado that developed from a supercell northwest of Las Vegas. The tornado was on the ground for twelve minutes and traveled about 4.5 miles towards the southeast, but was in open country. No injuries or property damage were caused by the tornado.

With an area of high pressure centered over southwest New Mexico, temperatures soared across northern and central portions of the state on June 12, 2021. Dry weather prevailed for most areas west of the Rio Grande Valley, but a cold front was responsible for drastically different weather conditions across the east. The cold front moved through eastern New Mexico late on June 11th and helped to replenish low-level moisture and provide an highly unstable and sheared environment. The result was a round of strong to severe thunderstorms that developed first over the northern high terrain and then moved east to southeast onto the plains. The strongest thunderstorm was a supercell near Las Vegas that produced very large hail up to three inches in diameter as well as a tornado. While the hail did some damage in the form of broken windshields, the tornado was over open country. As the thunderstorms marched towards the Texas border, the severe weather threat shifted to primarily a wind threat, and wind gusts exceeding 60 mph were recorded at several locations.