South Central Mountains storm history

The South Fork Fire was discovered on June 17th within tribal land along the Rio Ruidoso west of Ruidoso. It blew up in size within its first two days reaching 15,000 acres and destroying an estimated 1,400 structures. Two lives were lost, an as of yet identified person in a vehi…

The McBride Fire started on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, in Gavilan Canyon within the Village of Ruidoso and spread quickly due to 70 to 80 mph winds in the area. By Thursday, April 14th, the fire had burned more than 5,700 acres and burned 207 homes and structures while threatening …

A downed power line about 4.3 miles southwest of Nogal sparked the Nogal Canyon Fire on April 12, 2022. This fire spread to 400 acres by April 13th and destroyed 6 homes and 8 outbuildings while threatening 50 others. Residences in Nogal Canyon up to New Mexico State Highway 37 w…

This lightning sparked wildfire erupted on the afternoon of June 4, 2012 then spread rapidly overnight during strong gusty winds. The wildfire consumed more than 41,000 acres, destroyed 254 residential structures, 12 outbuildings, and forced numerous evacuations across the region…

This human caused fire, named the Swallow Fire for starting on Swallow Drive, burned 10 acres of land in a wooded Ruidoso neighborhood. Nine homes were lost to the blaze.

A human-caused wildfire begun in Gavilan Canyon and quickly spread north and northeast as very strong winds fueled the fire. The White Fire crossed Highway 70 near Ruidoso Downs and continued to move toward Forest Service Road 120. Highway 70 between mile markers 265 and 271 was …

Extreme drought conditions were removed from the entire zone.

The Camp Fire was discovered near Fort Stanton, NM on May 25th and quickly grew to a few hundred acres in size on its first day. In total, it burned 877 acres through May 27th. It damaged five structures within the Fort Stanton Historical Site, including the destruction of two wo…

The AWOS at Sierra Blanca Regional Airport measured a peak wind gust of 61 mph and peak sustained winds of 52 mph. Additionally, the mesonet station at Nogal measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.

Extreme drought persisted across the southeastern portion of the zone.

Sierra Blanca Regional Airport measured peak wind gusts of 78 mph and peak sustained winds of 56 mph. Additionally, a mesonet station Nogal measured a 59 mph wind gust and a public station near Carrizozo measured a 58 mph wind gust.

The mesonet station at Nogal saw peak wind gusts surpassing the limits of their instrumentation of 67 mph. Additionally, the Sierra Blanca AWOS measured peak wind gusts of 67 mph.

The Sierra Blanca AWOS measured peak wind gusts of 72 mph and peak sustained winds of 59 mph. A ziamet station at Nogal measured peak wind gusts of 66 mph. A public weather station near Carrizozo measured peak wind gusts of 60 mph. Finally, the Smokey Bear RAWS station measured a…

The Sierra Blanca AWOS measured a peak wind gust of 78 mph, as well as a high sustained wind of 60 mph. Peak gusts of 64 and 67 mph were measured elsewhere in the zone. These strong winds blew a roof off a home in Ruidoso.

The Nogal mesonet station measured a peak wind gust of 67 mph.

The Nogal mesonet measured a peak gust of 64 mph. A peak gust of 60 mph was also measured at the Sierra Blanca Airport.

The Nogal mesonet station measured a peak wind gust of 66 mph. Peak gusts of 60 to 62 were measured by Carrizozo mesonet and Sierra Blanca Airport AWOS stations.

Extreme drought conditions introduced to the far southern portions of the zone.

High winds gusts of up to 61 mph were observed at Sierra Blanca Regional Airport.

Severe drought conditions expanded across the southern and central portions of the zone.

Apparent temperatures as low as -8 degrees were observed within the zone.

The mesonet in Nogal observed high wind gusts peaking at 60 mph.

The Sierra Blanca SNOTEL observed an estimated 9 inches of snowfall. Additionally, CoCoRaHS observers measured 7.5 inches of snowfall near Alto and between 2 to 5.5 inches of snowfall across Ruidoso.

Peak wind gusts of 67 mph were observed at the Nogal Mesonet during the evening. Additionally, several high wind gusts peaking at 62 mph were observed at Sierra Blanca Regional Airport during the afternoon and evening.

Severe drought conditions expanded across the southern portion and into central portions of the zone.

Localized severe drought conditions persisted across the far southeast portion of the zone, mainly southeast of U.S Highway 70.

An estimated 12 inches of snow was estimated at the Sierra Blanca SNOTEL site. Generally, 4 to 8 inches of snow was observed in Ruidoso, Alto, and Sierra Blanca Regional Airport. There were reports of traffic backups on State Road 48 (Alto Rd) between Ski Run Road and E. Challete…

Localized severe drought conditions persisted across the far southeast portion of the zone, mainly southeast of U.S Highway 70.

Peak wind gusts of up to 66 mph and peak sustained winds of up to 49 mph were observed at Sierra Blanca Regional Airport. Additionally, peak wind gusts of up to 60 mph was observed at the Smokey Bear mesonet.

Localized severe drought conditions returned to the far southeast portion of the zone due to a record warm October.

Severe drought conditions were removed from the eastern portion of the zone.

Severe drought persisted across the eastern portion of the zone.

Severe drought was slightly reduced in areal coverage across the eastern portion of the zone.

Growth of this wildfire slowed considerably at the start of June with the total burned area growing nearly 80 more acres to 7,532. Evacuations were lifted by June 3rd.

Severe drought persisted across the eastern portion of the zone.

The Lincoln #2 Portable RAWS measured a brief wind gust of 62 mph. Strong winds transported smoke from the Blue 2 fire in the Lincoln National Forest over Ruidoso resulting in poor air quality in the town.

The Blue 2 wildfire was discovered a few days after it's lightning caused initiation on May 16th within the old Little Bear burn scar. It began in a remote area of the White Mountain Wilderness just southwest of Bonito Lake and west of the village of Ruidoso. After an initial siz…

Severe drought remained across the eastern portion of the zone.

A mesonet station in Nogal measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph. Additionally, the station at Sierra Blanca Regional Airport reported high sustained winds peaking at 46 mph and a peak wind gust of 62 mph.

The Sierra Blanca Airport observed a peak wind gust of 67 mph.

A wunderground station in Nogal observed a peak wind gust of 72 mph. A peak wind gust of 67 mph and 60 mph was also observed at the Nogal mesonet and the Sierra Blanca AWOS, respectively. High winds resulted in 3 downed trees in the road in Ruidoso and 2 power line wires down. Th…

Severe drought was removed from most areas except the far eastern edge of the zone.

The Sierra Blanca ASOS observed a peak wind gust of 60 mph. The station also observed high sustained winds peaking at 49 mph during the time period.

A public weather station near Buck Mountain measured a peak wind gust of 73 mph. High sustained winds peaking to 43 mph were also observed.

The Nogal ZiaMet station observed a peak wind gust of 64 mph at 9:00 MST.

Severe drought remained across most of the zone.

The NMCC Nogal mesonet station measured a peak gust of 67 mph.

The Sierra Blanca Airport recorded a peak wind gust of 59 mph. Sustained winds also reached a high of 43 mph. Blowing sand from Wind Sands National Park blew over the south-central mountains as well.

A CoCoRaHS station near of Alto measured 19.5 inches of snow. General amounts ranged from 3 to 6 inches in populated areas including Ruidoso, and 10 to 17 inches in the higher terrain.