Friday, May 19, 2023 gave me another opportunity to chase in Chaves and Eddy Counties. A couple of Low Precipitation (LP) Supercell cell thunderstorms developed southwest and west of Roswell, New Mexico that afternoon. Initially they were moving off to the northeast then made that famous right turn to the east then southeast. The storm west of Roswell died when it's inflow got cut off from the storm to the south of it. This is the storm that I chased. I was able to measure a thunderstorm dry microburst wind gust to 62 mph with my truck mounted anemometer. While uploading my severe weather report sitting on the side of US Hwy 285 5 miles west of Lake Arthur not only was I in a dust storm, but I started getting pounded with hail (dimes, quarters, and a few golf balls). LP Supercell thunderstorms are notorious for producing large hail, sometimes giant hail, and not much rainfall. This one was a classic example.
Chaves County/Lake Arthur LP Supercell Chase - Friday, May 19, 2023.