| Winter 2000-2001 continued:
moved across New Mexico on March 2 producing another five to eight inches of snow over the southern Sacramentos including the Cloudcroft vicinity. The next low pressure system pushed across the southern Rockies on March 7 with a cluster of showers and thunderstorms developing over south-central New Mexico during the afternoon and early evening hours. The thunderstorms produced pea-sized hail, brief heavy rains and wind gusts near 50 miles an hour over Otero County, New Mexico near Alamogordo and Cloudcroft. Later that evening and into the |
following day, snow again fell over the southern Sacramento Mountains with Cloudcroft receiving four
inches.
The remainder of March was generally tranquil with mild, dry weather conditions prevailing across the borderland. This was especially true after March 20 with afternoon high temperatures ranging from the middle 70s to the lower 80s across the lower elevations and valleys through the end of the month. |
| MAJOR WINDSTORMS
BLAST THE BORDERLAND April 2001 saw two of the strongest windstorms on record literally sandblast southern New Mexico and far western Texas. Both events were produced by very dynamic low pressure systems moving across the southern Rocky Mountains and through New Mexico. On April 6, winds gusted over 60 miles an hour across the region including gusts estimated at 75 miles an hour at Las Cruces. The high winds blew down numerous trees, utility poles and signs, especially in the Las Cruces and El Paso areas, with the blowing sand and dust reducing visibilities to a quarter mile. This storm also produced six inches of snow near Emory Pass in the Gilas while almost a half inch of rain fell around Silver City. On April 11 an equally powerful storm produced winds from 60 to 70 miles an hour across southern New Mexico and far western Texas. In El Paso, the winds destroyed a restaurant and caused structural damage to other buildings around the city. In addition, the blowing dust and sand reduced visibilities to to an eighth of a mile, making driving almost impossible during the afternoon and early evening. The winds blew a tractor trailer over on Trans-Mountain road, causing the road to be closed for several hours. Numerous power lines were also blown down, with power outages across El Paso and surrounding areas in New Mexico. |
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