Power Outage in Santa Fe, NM

A lightning strike in Albuquerque at the Ladera and Unser transfer station resulted in a massive power outage across central New Mexico leaving roughly 135,000 customers without power. During this outage, a motorcyclist that was stopped at a dark traffic light in Santa Fe was rear-ended by another vehicle and killed.

Santa Fe police reported that a lightning strike downed a power line and started a small brush fire at 1945 Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe. The fire is shown in a YouTube video burning for nearly 10 minutes before fire officials extinguished the blaze.

Mudslide reported along NM 502 at Totavi gas station. Power lines also downed in the area. Significant flooding along NM 30.

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.

The center of upper level high pressure that was centered over the Permian Basin for several days drifted west into southern New Mexico on the 18th. A weak disturbance in northwest flow aloft over northeastern New Mexico and low level southeasterly flow set the stage for scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms. Several of these storms were strong to severe and produced heavy rainfall, high winds, and large hail. The first storms developed over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains before moving southeast across the eastern plains. A powerful thunderstorm that moved across the Philmont Scout Ranch downed two large trees and dropped nickel size hail. This storm went on to produce a 70 mph wind gust near Maxwell. Another flash flood struck the Ute Park burn scar resulting in the closure of U.S. Highway 64. Thunderstorms moved across the eastern plains well into the evening. Torrential rainfall produced flash flooding around Clovis shortly before midnight that led to a few homes being flooded.

The center of upper level high pressure shifted farther west into Arizona on August 9th and allowed weaker steering flow to become more north to south across New Mexico. Deep moisture and strong instability over the state allowed numerous showers and thunderstorms to develop over the higher terrain during the early afternoon before spreading into nearby highlands and valleys through the evening. A powerful thunderstorm near Eagle Nest produced a rare landspout tornado that moved into Eagle Nest Lake while dissipating as a spectacular waterspout around 230 pm. Thunderstorms that moved off the higher terrain onto the Interstate 25 corridor produced large hail in San Miguel and Colfax counties. Very heavy rainfall near Pilar resulted in a flash flood that closed NM-567 for four days. An impressive 75 mph wind gust was reported at Gallup from thunderstorm outflow winds. Thunderstorms around the Edgewood area also resulted in accumulations of nickel size hail.

An upper level low pressure system centered over Arizona on May 21st drifted eastward toward the Four Corners region on May 22, 2018. Very dry southwest flow within the base of the upper low forced deeper moisture farther east into central and eastern New Mexico on the 22nd. Showers and thunderstorms developed along the central mountain chain during the early afternoon then spread north-northeast while intensifying over the high plains of eastern New Mexico through the evening. A large motor vehicle crash occurred on Interstate 25 near Santa Fe where significant accumulations of hail fell on the highway. Twelve vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the accident. Fortunately, no fatalities occurred from this incident. Storms continued to produce hail and high winds over eastern New Mexico through the overnight. Several storms that fired up over far southeastern Lincoln County and far western Chaves County produced quarter to hen egg size hail and minor flooding. A powerful storm over Quay County just after midnight tossed a sheet metal barn 100 yards and destroyed large sections of fencing and a nearby tree.

The potent upper low pressure system responsible for severe thunderstorms and flooding over eastern New Mexico between the 22nd and 25th began lifting slowly northeast into the central Rockies on the 26th and 27th. Daily rounds of showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall, hail, and strong winds began spreading westward to include much of central and western New Mexico through this period. This additional heavy rainfall set the stage for a more widespread flooding event through the end of September. Widespread three day rainfall reports averaged between two and five inches within central New Mexico. Several stations reported record daily rainfall amounts and placed September 2017 into the top 5 wettest Septembers on record. A potent storm that moved across Rio Rancho late on the 28th forced water into four homes along Arlene Road. A cluster of thunderstorms with torrential rainfall moved across western New Mexico during the early afternoon hours on the 29th and produced flash flooding around Farmington and Acoma Pueblo. These storms then shifted eastward and produced severe hail and flash flooding along much of the Interstate 25 corridor between Los Lunas, Belen, and Bernardo. Interstate 25 was closed for several hours as water flooded over the highway. Powerful storms developed again on the 30th and produced more flash flooding, severe hail, high winds, and even a tornado west of Albuquerque.

An upper level high east of the state and a surface backdoor cold front drew abundant moisture into northern and central New Mexico through the end of the 28th. The wet environment remained in place on the 29th, leading to widespread showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours. Thunderstorms lasted into the morning hours of the 30th, mainly focused over the east central plains. Rainfall amounts were impressive, with numerous reports in excess of an inch. One of the hardest hit locales was Grants, which received between 1.5 and 2.25 inches of rain in little over an hour. A few streets were flooded, one car was stuck in the flash flood waters, and boats became necessary to travel across other areas. Galisteo Creek below Galisteo also hit flood stage between 510am and 650am on the 30th. Many locales experienced minor flooding impacts, including Santa Rosa where reports of 3 to 4 inches of rain caused El Rito Creek to flow over Power Dam. Sumner Lake received an impressive 4 to 5 inches of rain during the overnight period. This resulted in an astounding rise of nearly 2.5 feet on Sumner Lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation performed reservoir releases up to 300cfs for several days after the event to control water levels.

A cold front approaching from the Great Basin raced across New Mexico on the 13th. Enough moisture and forcing along the frontal boundary combined to produce intense virga showers across many areas. Powerful wind gusts were reported at numerous locations, including 67 mph at Gallup and Santa Fe. A large tree was blown over near San Antonio as the cold front pushed through the area. Meanwhile, gusty winds also impacted isolated areas of eastern New Mexico as the back door front plowed south into the region.

A subtle shortwave in northwest flow aloft helped to spark thunderstorms across western New Mexico. As storms moved east into better moisture, they became severe and produced large hail and damaging winds. Areas in and southeast of Roswell were the hardest hit and sustained significant damage from the powerful straight line winds. The Roswell Industrial Airport was on the southwest edge of the strongest winds.