I had been coming up from behind (to the south) of a developing supercell thunderstorm that first formed north of Tatum, then moved east into Cochran County. It quickly became a right mover once it entered Hockley County. I first encountered its developing wall cloud west of Sundown.

I don’t know how many storm chasers were on this storm, but it had to be in the dozens. I begin to watch a strong rotation in the wall cloud a couple of miles to the west of Sundown on Farm to Market Rd 301.

This rapidly rotating wall cloud produced a couple of brief dusty tornadoes at this location. A cloud-to-ground lightning strike hit right behind my truck right after I had just gotten back into it from taking photos of the rapidly rotating wall cloud on top of the Gas Plant. You can hear the crack of thunder and see the flash of white light in my video.

I kept walking this supercell to the southeast, eventually headed towards Needmore and Meadow, about 25 miles southwest of Lubbock. You can tell in my GoPro video that I was right next to the wall cloud and right under it most of the time. Too close, actually.

I got caught in the very edge of a dusty tornado just north of Needmore on St Hwy 385. That scared me, and I was racing southward to get out of the circulation. You can see the rapid rotation of the wall cloud, the rapid rising of the scud clouds, and the dust whirls in my video.

I managed to get far enough south to flip my truck around to the north and shoot a couple of photos and video of the dusty tornado as it crossed St Hwy 385 to my north.

I shot a couple of photos and video of a white tornado that was roping out between Needmore and Meadow. It’s hard to tell in the photos and video, but there was a dust circulation on the ground at the base of the funnel.

I continue east towards the New Home, Woodrow, and Wilson areas south of Lubbock, where I watched the wall cloud continue to rotate with dust whirls underneath it. Eventually, I turn back west and head home through Brownfield, where I shot several cool photos and video of a double knuckled back sheared anvil on the supercell, and some cool cumulonimbus mammatus (CBMAM).

This ended up being one of the best chases of my life and one of the scariest.

My blog post link.

My YouTube Link:

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I took the two photos above 7 miles ENE of Halfway on US Hwy 62/180 between Carlsbad and Hobbs. Lots of quarter to hen egg size hail on the ground.

I took this photo in the one above in downtown Lovington after golf ball-sized hail stripped leaves off of trees and broke numerous windows in the town. Hail drifted all over town.

I took this photo of tennis ball-sized hail 5 miles south of McDonald on State Hwy 206, south of Tatum in northern Lea County.

I took this photo 9 miles northeast of Tatum on State Hwy 125. Nice end to my chase.

My Lea County Storm Chase Video.

The 2025 NM Severe Weather Season Is Off To A Fast Start.

Severe thunderstorms are not unusual in northeastern, eastern, and southeastern New Mexico in April. Although they generally become more numerous and widespread in May and June. Some years we have a second severe weather season, which can occur from late August through October. Severe thunderstorms can occur in just about every month of the year in New Mexico.

Another round of scattered thunderstorms is expected this afternoon and evening. Some of these, once again, may be of the supercell type and severe. Large to very large hail, damaging thunderstorm wind gusts in excess of 58 mph, frequent cloud-to-ground lightning, locally heavy rainfall, and localized flash flooding will all be possible with any severe thunderstorm that develops, especially the discrete supercells. A few tornadoes are also possible.

Storm Prediction Center Severe Weather Outlook Today.

MRMS 24-Hour Rainfall Totals.

NWS Midland GRLevel_3 24-Hour Radar Rainfall Estimates.

New Mexico 24-Hour MesoWest Rainfall Reports.

New Mexico CoCoRaHS 24-Hour Precipitation Totals.

Flash Flooding In Southern Eddy County Overnight.

National Weather Service Storm Reports.

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
705 PM CDT Fri Apr 25 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0645 PM     Hail             7 ENE Halfway           32.59N 103.62W
04/25/2025  M2.00 Inch       Lea                NM   Trained Spotter

            Hen Egg sized hail reported by trained
            spotter. Time was estimated from radar. && $$ 
KML

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
506 AM CDT Sat Apr 26 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0440 AM     Hail             2 ESE Hobbs             32.73N 103.12W
04/26/2025  E1.50 Inch       Lea                NM   Public

            Ping pong sized hail reported through social
            media. Location is approximate. && $$

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
511 AM CDT Sat Apr 26 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0750 PM     Hail             1 NNE Pecos             31.42N 103.49W
04/25/2025  M1.00 Inch       Reeves             TX   Fire Dept/Rescue

            Quarter size hail reported by Pecos Fire
            Dept. Time was estimated by radar.

0730 PM     Hail             5 S Mcdonald            33.06N 103.32W
04/25/2025  E2.50 Inch       Lea                NM   Trained Spotter

            Tennis ball size hail reported by trained
            spotter. Time was estimated by radar.

0743 PM     Tstm Wnd Gst     2 WSW Tatum             33.24N 103.35W
04/25/2025  M67 MPH          Lea                NM   Mesonet

            Mesonet station 51 2SW Tatum NM.

0748 PM     Hail             Tatum                   33.26N 103.32W
04/25/2025  M1.75 Inch       Lea                NM   Public

            Reports of shattered windows by wind-driven
            hail in Tatum. Time was estimated by radar.

0450 AM     Hail             3 E Hobbs               32.72N 103.11W
04/26/2025  E1.00 Inch       Lea                NM   Public

            Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). && $$

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
828 AM CDT Sat Apr 26 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0353 AM     Flash Flood      4 W Malaga              32.23N 104.15W
04/26/2025                   Eddy               NM   Fire Dept/Rescue

            At 253 AM MDT a swift water rescue was
            conducted near a low water crossing across
            Black River near Black River Road. Vehicle
            was reported to have been swept downstream.
            No injuries were reported.

0541 AM     Flash Flood      2 WNW Malaga            32.24N 104.10W
04/26/2025                   Eddy               NM   Fire Dept/Rescue

            At 441 AM MDT a swift water rescue was
            conducted at a low water crossing over the
            Black River along Higby Hole Road. No
            injuries were reported. && $$

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
953 AM CDT Sat Apr 26 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0857 AM     Flash Flood      15 SSE Malaga           32.04N 103.96W
04/26/2025                   Eddy               NM   Public

            A social media post showed an oil field road
            closed due to flooding of a low water
            crossing near the Pecos River in far
            southern Eddy County. &&

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
732 PM MDT Fri Apr 25 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0728 PM     Hail             9 SSW Lingo             33.68N 103.19W
04/25/2025  E1.50 Inch       Roosevelt          NM   Public && $$ 44

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
756 PM MDT Fri Apr 25 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0615 PM     Hail             3 N Broadview           34.87N 103.21W
04/25/2025  E2.75 Inch       Curry              NM   Public

            Truck and house windows knocked out. && $$ 44

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
820 AM MDT Sat Apr 26 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0550 AM     Flash Flood      1 SW Fort Sumner        34.47N 104.24W
04/26/2025                   De Baca            NM   Emergency Mngr

            Numerous impacts including crop damage from
            flooded fields, road closures due to water
            over roads and irrigation ditches
            overflowing. && $$ CA

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
947 AM MDT Sat Apr 26 2025

...RAIN REPORTS PAST 24HRS...

Location                     Amount    Time/Date

...New Mexico...

...Colfax County...
Springer                     0.25 in   0620 AM 04/26
Raton Crews Airport          0.23 in   0612 AM 04/26
Fws R2 Port No. 1            0.23 in   0815 AM 04/26
Miami 1 WSW                  0.10 in   0800 AM 04/26
Ute Park 3 N (Cimarron)      0.02 in   0809 AM 04/26

...Curry County...
Texico 13.6 N                0.41 in   0700 AM 04/26
Clovis 2.3 NNE               0.16 in   0605 AM 04/26
Clovis                       0.15 in   0615 AM 04/26
Clovis 3 WSW                 0.13 in   0615 AM 04/26
Cannon Air Force Base        0.11 in   0555 AM 04/26
Clovis 3.3 SW                0.10 in   0700 AM 04/26
Clovis                       0.09 in   0619 AM 04/26

...De Baca County...
3 SE Fort Sumner             7.00 in   0818 AM 04/26
1 SE Fort Sumner             4.56 in   0400 AM 04/26
Fort Sumner                  4.40 in   0615 AM 04/26
1 SSW Fort Sumner            4.34 in   0400 AM 04/26
Fort Sumner 0.5 SSW          4.25 in   0700 AM 04/26
Fort Sumner 8.9 NNW          1.03 in   0700 AM 04/26
Fort Sumner 12 NW            0.82 in   0800 AM 04/26
Fort Sumner 9.0 SSE          0.20 in   0640 AM 04/26

...Harding County...
Yates 7 SE                   0.61 in   0630 AM 04/26
Mills 4 WSW (Mills Canyon)   0.13 in   0805 AM 04/26

...Mora County...
Bartley                      0.02 in   0604 AM 04/26

...Quay County...
House 0.1 S                  1.10 in   0700 AM 04/26
McAlister 7.7 N              1.10 in   0800 AM 04/26
1 N Bard                     0.78 in   0500 AM 04/26
McAlister 3.7 WNW            0.78 in   0700 AM 04/26
Tucumcari Muni Airport       0.72 in   0553 AM 04/26
Logan 1.5 W                  0.72 in   0700 AM 04/26
McAlister                    0.53 in   0500 AM 04/26

...Rio Arriba County...
Chama 2 N                    0.01 in   0800 AM 04/26

...Roosevelt County...
Causey 13.4 SW               0.21 in   0700 AM 04/26
Tolar 12 SE                  0.01 in   0500 AM 04/26
Elida 9.1 S                  0.01 in   0700 AM 04/26

...San Miguel County...
Bell Ranch 11 ENE            0.16 in   0615 AM 04/26
Mosquero 15 SSE              0.16 in   0700 AM 04/26
Sapello 5.1 WNW              0.06 in   0630 AM 04/26
Las Vegas Muni Airport       0.02 in   0553 AM 04/26
Mineral Hill 1 WNW           0.02 in   0700 AM 04/26

...Union County...
Sedan 5 N                    0.64 in   0616 AM 04/26
Clayton 2.3 ENE              0.64 in   0700 AM 04/26
Clayton Muni Airpark         0.58 in   0620 AM 04/26
Clayton 14.6 SSW             0.43 in   0700 AM 04/26
Amistad 8.5 WSW              0.06 in   0700 AM 04/26

...HAIL REPORTS...

Location                     Size      Time/Date

...New Mexico...

...Curry County...
3 N Broadview                2.75 in   0615 PM 04/25

...De Baca County...
1 SW Fort Sumner             1.00 in   0130 AM 04/26
2 S Yeso                     0.50 in   1054 PM 04/25

...Quay County...
1 SW Wheatland               1.00 in   0546 PM 04/25

...Roosevelt County...
9 SSW Lingo                  1.50 in   0728 PM 04/25
&&

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Hail, Hail Drifts, And Hail Fog On White Pine Rd.

November 2, 2024. 1 Mile NW Of Seven Rivers, NM.

A severe thunderstorm (rare for November) dropped golf ball to tennis ball size hail in the Seven Rivers and Lakewood areas on Saturday, November 2, 2024. I took my photos nearly an hour after the storm had ended. Even so, I still picked up numerous golf ball (1.75” in diameter) to hen egg (2.0” in diameter) size hailstones in the area. My brother measured 1.30" of rain along with hen egg-sized hail at his ranch 2 miles north of Lakewood.

Saturday, Nov 2nd, 2024 Large Rotating Wall Cloud With Brief Dusty Tornadoes 7 Miles West Of Jal, New Mexico In Lea County.

November 2, 2024, 7-10 Miles West Of Jal, New Mexico (Lea County).

It is highly unusual to see supercell thunderstorms in southeastern New Mexico in November. I chased the first supercell north of Carlsbad which produced golf ball to hen egg (2.0” in diameter) size hail in Seven Rivers and southwest of Seven Rivers.

The second supercell developed in Eddy County southeast of Carlsbad and moved east into Lea County. I intercepted it west of State Highway 176 northwest of Eunice. A large wall cloud developed 10 miles west of Eunice along with a very long beavers tail. Strong inflow into the rotating wall cloud produced a couple of brief dusty tornadoes.

My cover video is my time-lapse video of the rotating wall cloud and a couple of brief dusty tornadoes.

There's Probably No Time by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/uvp/

Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

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Flash Flooding In Chaves & Eddy Counties August 31, 2024.

Widespread moderate to heavy rainfall blanketed southeastern New Mexico the last week of August 2024. With the heaviest rains falling Friday night August 30th into the morning of Saturday, August 31st.

Average rainfall totals in southern Chaves County, Eddy, and Lea Counties were 1" to 2". With the Dayton and McNew Subdivision areas in Eddy Central County picking up 2.70" to 3.10" overnight. In southwestern Chaves County public reports of 3.35" early Saturday morning on top of 1" to 3" a couple of days before for a total of 4" to 6".

Three high water rescues were performed by Law Enforcement Personnel in Carlsbad early Saturday morning in the normally dry Dark Canyon Arroyo. The Dark Canyon Flood Gauge southwest of Carlsbad and northeast of Whites City crested at 13.99'. The Rio Penasco Flood Gauge west of Hope peaked at 10.22'. The San Jose Blvd Flood Gauge in Carlsbad on Dry Canyon peaked at 8.32'.

This was far from being the worst flash flood event in the local area but given the extreme to severe drought conditions over the past couple of years, it got everyone's attention.

My YouTube Video link: Flash Flooding Chaves Eddy Co's 8 31 2024

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Seven Rivers, New Mexico Wet Microburst 6 26 2024

Wendellwx July 1, 2024

A slow-moving thunderstorm developed quickly over Seven Rivers, New Mexico in the late afternoon of Wednesday, June 26, 2024.

Eleven minutes into the video (7:30 PM MDT) I pull over onto the side of US Hwy 285 about a mile north of Seven Rivers, just south of the intersection with Rock Daisy Rd. A few minutes later a wet microburst slammed with easterly winds that I initially estimated to be gusting to over 70 mph. In all likelihood, those gusts were closer to 90 mph.

Brief torrential rains cut the visibility down to near zero as four power line poles snapped off ahead of me on the west side of the highway. I thought for a few seconds that those gusts were going to roll my truck over. Listen closely and you can hear the wind howling. Notice the power flashes when the power poles were blown down.

During all of this, I got a phone call from a family member telling me about the landspout tornado in Hagerman, in southern Chaves County to my north. I lost connection with him during the call. A Skywarn Storm Spotter reported a measured wind gust of 91 mph east of Hagerman. Local residents measured over 3 inches of rainfall.

Thursday morning I drove down White Pine Rd one-half of a mile south of Seven Rivers and filmed Central Valley Electric Company replacing additional power poles that had been blown down. They reported on their Facebook page a total of 40-50 poles were blown down in Dagger Draw near Seven Rivers.

My blogger post to my storm summary.

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GR2Analyst Cannon AFB Dual Pol Radar Snapshots. (5:31 PM MDT, Saturday, May 11, 2024.

Base Reflectivity (BR).

Storm Relative Velocity (SRV).

Normalized Rotation (NORT).

Correlation Coefficient (CC). 

Cross Section View.

Southern Chaves Co Supercell Chase 5 11 2024

Wendellwx May 13, 2024.

Storm Prediction Center Storm Reports.

(Saturday, May 11, 2024).

Southern Chaves County Supercell Chase - May 11, 2024.

- Tuesday, May 14, 2024

A supercell thunderstorm developed southwest of Roswell, New Mexico in southern Chaves County on Saturday afternoon, May 11, 2024. This storm initially was moving off to the northeast then like so many of its predecessors began to make that famous right turn to the east and then east-southeast with time. Thus a right mover. 

A couple of public reports of golf ball-sized hail were received and radar indicated that the hail may have been bigger at times. A three-body scatter strike signature (TBSS) was noted in the base reflectively of the storm which is indicative of very large hail. This happens when the radar beam is reflected off of the hail in the storm and downward onto the ground.

Rotation was noted with this storm. I watched a couple of rotating wall clouds develop and dissipate. I pulled a couple of still image captures from off of my  GoPro HERO11 Black camera mounted on the dash of our truck. The resolution and clarity of the images aren't all that great since I was about 11 miles southwest of the storm at the time. Did I see a tube-shaped funnel cloud? You can't really tell in my video upload (time-lapse video). A public report of a funnel cloud was received west of Lake Arthur. 

I didn't pull over and shoot photos of the storm at that time. I was distracted on the phone with my mother and stepdad who were coming up to the intersection of St. Hwy 13 and U.S. Hwy 285 south of Roswell. They were in very heavy rain and pea-sized hail headed south. I had them pull over at the intersection of these two highways and wait the storm out. I didn't want them driving further south into the core of the storm. 

Anyway, this one turned into another dusty storm east of Lake Arthur as it turned to the east-southeast. Naturally, YouTube would destroy the quality and resolution of my video when I uploaded it. Never fails. 

See my flash flooding blog post from this storm via this link:

Supercell Thunderstorm Produces Flash Flooding WSW Of Hagerman.

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Supercell T-Storm Produces Flash Flooding WSW Of Hagerman - May 11, 2024.

A supercell thunderstorm dropped heavy rain that produced localized flash flooding on the Rio Felix normally dry arroyo and along New Mexico St. Hwy 13, 7 miles west of the junction of U.S. Hwy 285, or about 13 miles west-southwest of Hagerman, located in southern Chaves County on Saturday, May 11, 2024, around 6 PM MDT.

Radar estimated 2” to 2.50” of rainfall fell in this area. It may have been more than this.

St Hwy 13 Flash Flooding May 11, 2024

Wendellwx May 13, 2024.

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My third chase of the week found me leaving Carlsbad and headed towards Eunice, the south to Jal, Kermit, and finally Wink, Texas Saturday. 

A strong cold front had sunk slowly southward through the southeastern Plains of New Mexico and West Texas overnight into the morning. Very gusty northeasterly winds accompanied the frontal passage. Areas of blowing dust and hazy overcast skies with low clouds were prevlaent. This made it difficult to identify storm structure. 

The Storm Prediction Center issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Eddy and Lea Counties in southeastern New Mexico, as well as eastward across parts of West Texas. They then issued a Tornado Watch for areas south into the Permian Basin, Trans Pecos, and southward. 

I caught up with the cold front sagging southward and becoming stationary in the Kermit/Wink area. My YouTube video shows what I was watching. A lone supercell thunderstorm developed along the frontal boundary and initially was moving to the northeast. It then made a right turn and started heading southeast and then eventually east. 

The Wink Airport ASOS clocked a peak wind gust of 62 mph from the north-northeast at 3:52 PM CDT. During the time I was filming the storm. The public reported softball size hail (4.0" in dia) 4 miles east of Kermit at 3:40 PM CT. The public reported ping pong ball size hail (1.50" in dia) in Kermit. There was some street flooding in Kermit when I passed through town and headed back home. I am glad I didn't get caught in the core of this monster that's for sure. 

I made a couple of time-lapse sections of my video and it's a little easier to see the rotation in the wall cloud and pick out the strongest of the dust whirls. 

Looking at the GRAnalyst2 screenshots you can see that the strongest rotation was noted at 3:46 PM CDT just northeast of the Wink Airport and south of Kermit (yellow triangle). Radar indicated rotation from the lowest tilt of 4,000' up through 44,000'. Max normalized rotation (Nort) also occurred at this time and location. 

The Volume scan and Cross Section screenshots I grabbed clearly show a strong updraft into the storm at this time. Very strong inflow was feeding into this storm. 

Trying to see what going on underneath the rotating wall cloud was no easy task. I believe that I spotted a couple of tornado dust whirls on the ground. Although it’s very hard to pick these out in the video due to the amount of dust in the air. Could they have been gustnadoes? Possibly. I wouldn't argue either way truthfully. 

My Blog Post Link.

Wink/Kermit, Texas Storm Chase 5 4 2024

(My YouTube Version Of My Chase Video) Wendellwx May 4, 2024

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Saturday, March 9, 2024, my wife and I drove through the Sacramento Mountains of south-central New Mexico on our way to Alamogordo. I turned on my GoPro HERO11 Black dash-mounted camera. I set the lens to wide angle in the Cinemax mode and started recording just past Runyan Ranches Fruit Stand at 5,500’ in elevation.

A surprise snowstorm dropped anywhere from 4” to 9” of fresh snow between the Elk area west up the mountain to Cloudcroft the day before. Interestingly Cloudcroft at the top of the mountain at an elevation of 8,751’ only measured 1” to 3” of snowfall. Usually, they get much more than the lower elevations along the east slopes of the mountains but not this time.

I turned on our SiriusXM Radio and tuned into the 70’s channel. The background music is various songs that played along our journey west.

We started out with partly cloudy skies. As we climbed up in elevation heading westward the skies became overcast with a few breaks. Making for some pretty cool contrasts in colors between the sky, the highway, and the snow-covered landscape. Once we topped out at Cloudcroft and started dropping down the west side of the mountain we ran out of the snow around 6,000’ and into a dense fog bank. The fog cleared out by the time we reached High Rolls.

Our trip continued uneventfully into Alamogordo. Our trip was amazing. New Mexico at her very best. Peaceful, relaxing, and enjoyable. So thankful for moments like these.

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One of the photos I took at from the inside of my truck at 11:46 AM MST Tuesday, while sitting on the side of St Hwy 2, just north of Hagerman, NM. #NMwx #NMBlowingDust #BlowingDust #DustStorm #RoswellDustStorm #Roswell #NM

I chased and shot photos and videos of one the worst dust storms I’ve seen recently. I left Artesia, New Mexico and travel north on State Hwy 2 arriving in Hagerman, located in southern Chaves County at 11:13 AM MST.

I could see the clouds of blowing dust to my north from Lake Arthur. As I worked my way north along St Hwy 2 the average prevailing visibility from Hagerman north to Dexter, Midway, and the junction of US Hwy 285 three miles east of the Roswell Airport was 1/4 to 1/2 of a mile in blowing dust.

At times I could not see much further than the front of my truck in wave after wave of blinding dust clouds.

I made two 911 calls to the Chaves County Dispatch Center requesting that Law Enforcement shut down St. Hwy 2 from Hagerman-Dexter-Midway, and north to the junction of US hwy 285 southeast of Roswell.

St. Hwy 2 and U.S. Hwy 285 were closed due to multiple vehicle accidents with injuries and one fatality. KOAT Action 7 News out of Albuquerque carried the story.

No doubt that breaks in the thick cirrostratus overcast (bases estimated at 20,000’ AGL) that allowed the stronger winds aloft to mix down to the surface aided in the westerly winds gusting up to 72 mph at the Roswell Airport. Along with a few virga bombs that you can see in the video.

Virga:

Streaks or wisps of precipitation falling from a cloud but evaporating before reaching the ground. In certain cases, shafts of virga may precede a microburst

At one point the blinding dust storm was so bad that my truck’s computer sounded an alarm on my console which said “forward looking camera fail…clean windshield.”

The Albuquerque National Weather Service Office which has forecast and warning responsibility for Chaves County had already issued a A Dust Storm Warning for Chaves County at 10:43 AM MST. The warning was later extended.

Dust Storms are not unusual for New Mexico especially during droughts such as the one we continue to be in.

I shot my video with my GoPro HERO11 Black camera. Mounted inside my truck on the dashboard. The dust accumulating on my windshield, the sun, and traffic all affected the resolution of my camera so at times the details are a little blurry.

Chaves County Sheriff Mike Herrington issues warning for drives due to the blowing dust and accidents in and around the Roswell, New Mexico area yesterday.

Photo is courtesy of the Dexter, New Mexico Fire Dept Facebook Page.

Justin Powell the Dexter Fire Dept Chief:
  · 
Dexter Fire & Rescue, Midway Fire and EMS, Sierra Volunteer Fire Department, City of Roswell Fire Department, AMR Roswell/Chaves County, Chaves County Sheriff's Office, New Mexico State Police all responded to a multi-vehicle crash this afternoon at Ochard Park and 285. 

Approximately 6 or more vehicles were involved, one on fire, resulting in several transported to the hospital.  There was one fatality. The road is still closed. Visibility was only 2-3 feet at times. 

This accident was shortly after another multi-vehicle on state road 2 between Dexter and Hagerman.  There were numerous other accidents today, however no injuries were reported in most of them.

NMSP is handling this accident investigation. Thoughts and prayers go to everyone involved. Please do not travel in dangerous weather conditions. It is not worth your life or anyone else’s. It puts everyone including all first responders in danger. If you must drive then use extreme caution and pay very close attention to cahnging conditions on the roads and in the visibility.  We want everyone to make it home in one piece and un-harmed. 

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In spite of all of the chaos, uncertainty, instability, heartache, confusion, and fear there still is beauty in God’s creation. I experienced some of that this morning when I shot this time-lapse video.

Altocumulus Standing Lenticular Clouds (ACSL) had formed southwest of us over the Guadalupe Mountains this morning. They were streaming from southwest to northeast as they slowly eroded.

Song credit: No Indication.

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and the sun advanced westward. I shot this video of an hour and a half.

Monday at noon mdt thunderstorms begin to develop along the east slopes of the Guadalupe mountains of southeastern New Mexico. A strong thunderstorm quickly blew up as it marched off to the northeast and reached the supercell stage.

One more chance to go storm chasing in a rather dismal year for chasing after coming out of a three year drought. This is my hobby, my playtime, this is what I do for fun. This also marks my 50th year with the National Weather Service Skywarn Program. I started spotting/chasing in Eddy County when I was 15 years old in 1973. This was one of the worst hailstorms I’ve seen locally in all of those years. Not the worst but close.

A New Mexico Department of Transportation driver saw tennis ball size hail on the ground along State Highway 137 (the Queen highway) after the storm has passed. I shot photos and video of hail piled up in drifts a foot deep and was still picking up golf ball sized hail stones some 30-45 minutes after the storm passed. I spotted at least one brief funnel cloud maybe a couple of more.

The hail stripped the mesquite bushes of their leaves and beat the grass out of the ground in places. Broken windshields on vehicles was reported also. Heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in normally dry arroyos, bar ditches, and fields. I’ll upload a video of that in a couple of days.

1” to 4” of rain fell in and around the Carlsbad area. I recorded 2.25” which is the greatest 24-hour rainfall total at our home in Carlsbad in the past 17 years in the month of October.

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