Thunderstorm Wind — Taos, New Mexico

2021-12-15 · near Taos, Taos, New Mexico

Event narrative

Snow squall. An intense line of thunderstorms with rain and snow moved quickly through Taos County early in the morning. An AWOS station in Taos measured a peak wind gust of 62 mph, but damage estimates within the city and surrounding areas indicate wind speeds of 80 to 100 mph as these high winds caused extensive damage. These thunderstorms produced a 2.9 mile long swath of damage from Blueberry Hill Road to El Prado oriented in an east-northeast direction. Six to seven homes sustained roof damage while one single wide mobile home was moved off its foundation. Numerous trees were snapped at the base with other large limbs downed, and at least two power poles were snapped at their bases. Two homes sustained significant roof damage with the aluminum roofing peeled completely off the homes. On a two story home, three-quarters of its roof was missing with part of its second story destroyed. At another home, a trampoline was found fifty feet in the air stuck in a tree. A radio tower was also downed which resulted in a power outage to the northern half of the city. Several schools in the area cancelled classes for the day while government offices were also closed. Taos County declared a State of Emergency, and COVID-19 vaccination sites were temporarily transformed into shelters for displaced people. Damages are a rough estimate.

Wider weather episode

An abnormally strong storm system more typical of spring rather than early winter strengthened over the western United States early in the week of December 13, 2021. The defining characteristic for this system was the potent and dangerous upper-level jet associated with it as winds were well over 100 knots. As this system continued to deepen as it dived into the southwestern United States, these winds mixed down to the surface, resulting in a widespread historic windstorm for much of northern and central New Mexico on December 15, 2021. Its associated Pacific cold front arrived into western New Mexico early in the morning on the 15th, and wind speeds rapidly increased to over 60 mph at locations such as Gallup and Farmington. The rain and snow located along this cold front organized into a snow squall as it marched through western New Mexico and into the Rio Grande Valley. This resulted in blowing snow and reduced visibility along roadways such as Interstate 40 near Gallup. Several vehicle accidents were reported along Interstate 40 in McKinley County due to poor travel conditions which forced the closure of the major highway for a few hours during the morning. Lightning was even associated with this squall line which result in a period of thundersnow for the Farmington area with wind gusts in excess of 60 mph. As this storm system moved through the state during the afternoon hours, wind speeds continued to increase with the highest gusts recorded along and east of the central mountain chain due to downsloping winds. The highest gust during this event was 103 mph at Taos Ski Valley which sustained significant tree damage. Other high winds were generally 70 to 90 mph across the eastern plains. Numerous damage reports were received areawide, including downed trees and power lines, damage to mobile homes and other structures, and numerous traffic accidents. Key Impacts: damages, downed trees, downed power lines, power outages, traffic accidents, road closures.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.3900, -105.6339)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 989741. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.