2016 Annual Weather Highlights Severe Weather

Severe weather is defined as hail greater than or equal to 1 inch, thunderstorm wind gusts greater than or equal to 58 mph, a flash flood or a tornado. However, prior to January 5, 2010, the criteria for severe hail was 3/4 inch. For consistency, the table below, as well as the map above, includes all severe weather reports, including hail reports as small as 3/4 inch.  This year, the National Weather Service in Albuquerque received 150 severe weather reports. The total number of severe weather reports across the state as a whole was 222. These totals do not include wind gusts greater than or equal to 58 mph that occurred from non-thunderstorm wind events. The table below shows the breakdown of reports received.

January 26th:  Though winter storms aren't typically thought of as a traditional severe weather event, they certainly can be "severe" in their own right. On the night of January 25th into the early morning hours of the 26th, intense snowfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour dumped between 24 and 30 inches of snowfall in the area between Chacon, Mora, Gascon and Ledoux, with higher amounts suspected at elevations above these areas. Outside of this area that spans no more than 20 miles, generally less than 10 inches of snow was reported. This extremely localized heavy snow event along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains left the citizens in these areas digging out for quite some time. 

  

   Approximately 24 inches of snow near Mora on January 26th.  Photos courtesy of Frieda Bustos.

 

Various Dates May through August: There were many funnel cloud and landspout tornado reports this year, but fortunately, damage did not occur from any of them. Tornadoes and funnel clouds most often develop across eastern New Mexico from supercell  thunderstorms, but they can and do occasional form west of the Central Mountain Chain. On May 18th, a spotter caught a picture of a well-developed funnel cloud near Datil, once again dispelling the myth that funnel clouds and tornadoes can't occur near mountainous terrain. Later in the year, on August 13th two landspout tornadoes developed on opposite sides of the state. One formed on a mesa near Capulin Volcano National Monument, while another formed near Ojo Encino which caught the attention of many people at a baseball field. Other well-developed funnel clouds were reported on July 2nd near Taos and August 28th near Gallup. Once again, both of these funnel clouds were west of the Central Mountain Chain!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left: Funnel cloud southeast of Datil on May 18th. Photo courtesy of Jessica Murphey. Right: Landspout tornado near Capulin Volcano National Monument on August 13th. Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Bezore.

 

 

Left: Landspout Tornado near Ojo Encino on August 13th. Photo courtesy of Glenyall Herschel. Center: Funnel Cloud near Gallup on August 28th, courtesy of Sam Fry. Right: Funnel Cloud near Taos on July 2nd courtesy of Elizabeth Mason.

 

August 5th: A devastating flash flood event occurred the night of August 5th near Shiprock.  Heavy rain fell upstream of Shiprock on Salt Creek Wash. Hours later, a wall of water surged downstream and caused major damage to a community near Mesa Farm Road. Three to four homes were severely damaged and one home was destroyed. Several vehicles, motorcycles, and recreational vehicles were washed into the creek and destroyed.  Folks in this area were rescued from their rooftop. Remarkably, no one was killed.

After a raging torrent of water raced through Salt Wash, these photos show the damage it left in its wake. Photos courtesy of Steve Lewis, Farmington Daily Times.

August 22nd: An otherwise benign day of isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms across New Mexico was disrupted by life threatening flash flooding over far southeastern Rio Arriba County. Thunderstorms repeatedly developed and shifted eastward over Hernandez, Chamita, and Alcalde. Hail and torrential rainfall were reported for several hours. Emergency management estimated up to 30 homes were inundated with water and mud. Many vehicles were overturned in flood waters and at least three water rescues took place. The most significant damage occurred along Highway 74 where a mobile home was washed off its foundation over 50 feet downstream. Numerous roads were impassable. Local DOT officials said for the first time the main arroyo that crosses under U.S. Highway 285 at Hernandez topped the roadway by up to 4 inches. Locals in the area said this was the worst flood they have observed in several decades.

Top: Flooding aftermath near Hernandez, a small community off Highway 285 10 miles north of Espanola. Bottom: Pea to dime size hail piled up along the side of an arroyo in Hernandez approximately 3 to 4 feet high. The brown area, debris from the flood, was mainly on the surface.  Those surveying the damage did not have to dig far to reach the hail accumulation. Photos by Kerry Jones.

August 29th: Impressive flash flooding occurred over the Dog Head burn scar in the Manzano Mountains during the afternoon of August 29th. An upper level low pressure system nearly stationary over the Four Corners and an upper high level pressure system over the lower Mississippi River Valley generated a deep tap of very rich moisture across central and eastern New Mexico. A line of slow-moving thunderstorms dumped 1 to 3 inches of rainfall along the Highway 337 corridor from near Tajique north to the Chilili area. Many folks captured footage of arroyos out of their banks, culverts at maximum capacity, and large areas of standing water. At peak, approximately 3 to 4 feet of water was flowing over Highway 337 near Tajique. Fortunately no injuries or significant damage occurred.

Dog Head burn scar flash flooding. Photos courtesy of Ashley Krystal (left) and Bill Simms (right).

September 15th: Arguably one of the most active severe weather days of the year, September 15th started with a tornado developing just after midnight near Melrose. A nearby resident reported a loud, distant roaring sound over the Melrose Bombing Range when radar indicated very intense rotation. A storm survey of this extremely remote location later revealed a 2000 pound mobile office trailer that was bolted and strapped down was lifted and moved eight to ten inches. Later that afternoon, another round of severe weather developed. Several supercell thunderstorms developed by early afternoon and moved east across the plains. A funnel cloud was reported just after the noon hour near Vaughn, but the most active and persistent area of thunderstorms was across eastern Lincoln and southwest Chaves counties. Supercells with near continuous rotation churned over this area for much of the afternoon. Though much of this area is rural, we did receive reports of nickel to quarter size hail in the area around Tinnie, Picacho, and Dunken. Also, a tornado and golf ball size hail were then spotted over rural ranch lands to the northeast of Dunken.

Other notables: Seven of the eight tornadoes across New Mexico were rated EF-0, while one tornado in Hidalgo County was not rated since a survey team could not get out to the area to assess the damage, though it is suspected that there was not any. The largest reported hail size this year was in Eddy County near Seven Rivers where a 4 inch hailstone fell on September 15th. The hail dented a vehicle and broke its windshield. The strongest thunderstorm wind gust that was reported was estimated to be around 80 mph near Bingham on May 31st which was associated with a downburst. The highest non-thunderstorm wind gust was a whopping 110 mph at San Augustine Pass in southern New Mexico on December 17th, though not far behind was a 105 mph wind gust at Taos Ski Valley's Kachina Peak on Christmas day.

The graph on the left shows the distribution of New Mexico severe weather events by month.  New Mexico's primary severe weather season is in the spring, though a secondary season often occurs in the fall. This is primarily illustrated by the hail events this year. This graph also shows that flash flooding in New Mexico is most frequent during monsoon season. Click on the graph for a larger image.