High Wind — Upper Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

2021-10-26 · Upper Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

Event narrative

An AWOS station in Taos briefly measured sustained wind speeds of 40 mph.

Wider weather episode

A strong Pacific upper-level storm system moved inland onto the western United States coast early in the week of October 26, 2021. As it continued to strengthen as it dived southward into Nevada and southern California, it brought copious amounts of precipitation to the west coast. Unfortunately, its track as it moved across the rest of the country took it over the central Rockies and to the north of New Mexico. This resulted in light rain and mountain snow across the northern half of the state with the biggest impact across the area being the very strong winds on October 26, 2021. As this system steered a strong upper-level jet stream across the state, winds strengthened with gusts generally ranging from 40 to 55 mph across much of northern and central New Mexico. Stronger wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph were more common along the higher terrain areas and adjacent highlands. While high winds tapered off in the late evening hours, breezy to windy conditions persisted through the overnight hours and into the following day.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 982505. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.