new position in 1999, with only 4 counties receiving training. This year we will target El Paso, Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Deming, Lordsburg, Silver City, T or C, Dell City, Sierra Blanca, and any place where there is interest. If necessary, we will carry on training into June to catch all of you!

One last request: Please let us know if you have moved or changed phone numbers! This is very important to maintain the integrity of our database and warning program. Otherwise, we don't find out until your newsletter is returned. If then we cannot make contact, we have no choice but to drop you from the database. Sure, you could call and be reinstated, by why wait until then? Let us know beforehand. Also, a warm welcome to those of you who are not certified spotters or observers but still benefit from this newsletter. Until the summer edition, dodge the dust and sweep the sand!
        -John Fausett

By the time most of you read this, another Spring windy season will be upon us. Unfortunately, like last year it will follow a dry (La Niña) winter/fall, which usually results in more dust than usual. Most wind events associated with cold fronts are no more than a nuisance. However, on occasion strong winds aloft will mix down to the surface and cause damage. It is important that spotters report any estimated winds at or above 50 mph, which is approaching high wind warning criteria. In dry years such as this, even lesser winds could lead to blowing dust and visibilities reduced to 1/4 mile or less, which are also worthy of a call to us. Finally, usually in May, surface high pressure areas migrating through the plains can push Gulf of Mexico moisture westward through

mountain passes and spread unseasonably humid air into the desert areas. Since the jet stream is often still over the area, favorable wind shear will combine with this moisture at its western edge (the dry line), resulting in an atmospheric profile not unlike what you would typically find in Lubbock or Midland. Such scenarios have resulted in supercells and most of our greater hail events. Though very rare in these parts, tornadoes can also form within this environment.
What a segue into spotter training! Though a schedule has not yet been formalized, it appears April and early May will be the target time slot for the training sessions. There will be some modifications to last year's presentation, which in turn was significantly different than previous years. I was still getting grounded in my

port. As a  reminder, all your weather forms need to be mailed to the Santa Teresa address, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, after the end of each month.
For those of you who do not yet have a digital thermometer or are currently taking no temperature readings at all, we still have three extra MMTS systems in our supplies if you wish to change from the older thermometers to the digital readout or if you would like to start adding temperatures to your raingage readings.
Finally, as you may have read, I will be retiring on my next birthday, March 27th.  I have really enjoyed meeting and getting to know and work with each one of you. Good Luck in all you do in the future.         -Bob Cooper
   

As we get ready for our spring severe weather season, we have made several trips to repair equipment and perform maintenance.  Over the last three months we have also presented two length of service awards. We presented a 75-year award to the Jornada Experimental Range and a 45-year award to Mr. Roy Schoenradt of Hillsboro. Roy's son John has since taken over the duties as our observer in Hillsboro.   
We would also like to welcome Mr. & Mrs. Lewis to our family of Co-op weather observers. On February 16th, Mrs. Helen Lewis took over as our newest Co-op observer in Elk, NM.  Mr. Cleve and his wife, the previous Co-op observers for over 14 years in Elk,  have decided to move to Roswell.
Recently, NCDC, the location where your weather records are kept, informed us that we need ALL observers to place a 0 in the precipitation and snowfall columns when there is no rain or snow to re

New Moon:  Full Moon:
March 5 10:17 PM MST   March 19   10:44 PM MST
April 4   12:12 PM MST   April   18   11:41 AM MST
May 3    10:12 PM MST   May    18    1:34 AM MST
June 2      6:14 AM MST  June     16    4:07 PM MST
July 1      1:20 PM MST   July      16    7:55 PM MST

Upcoming Lunar Eclipse: July 16, 2000 7:02 AM MST

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