National Weather Service Forecast Office El Paso/Santa Teresa
Volume 7 Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2003 Edition
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SOUTHWEST WEATHER BULLETIN National Weather Service Forecast Office El Paso/Santa Teresa Volume 7 Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2003 Edition |
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SEVERE AUTUMN
THUNDERSTORMS AND EARLY WINTER SNOWS STRIKE BORDERLAND BEFORE WARM WINDY WEATHER RETURNS |
| Contents: Autumn/Winter Weather Highlights page 1 The Southwestern United States Monsoon page 3 Flash Floods page 5 Tornadoes page 7 Damaging Downbursts page 9 Heat Safety page 11 Max Blood- Area Manager John Fausett-Warning Coordinator Meteorologist Joe Rogash- Lead Forecaster and Newsletter Editor/Writer  |
 On October 18, 2002, these severe thunderstorms produced large hail, damaging winds and brief heavy rains as they moved over Santa Teresa, N.M., and west El Paso, Tx. ( Photographed by Charlotte Rogash) Seasonal Weather Highlights October 7: Strong thunderstorms with heavy downpours drop up to 2 inches of rain over southwestern New Mexico during the afternoon. Flooding reported around Lordsburg, Animas, and Red Rock Canyon. October 18: Severe thunderstorms rip southern Dona Ana County, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas during the late morning. Hail over an inch in diameter falls around Santa Teresa and west El Paso, damaging motor vehicles and destroying crops. Minor flooding and wind damage also reported. October 23: Another round of strong to severe thunderstorms strike southern New Mexico during the late afternoon and evening. One-inch diameter hail falls at Caballo in Sierra County. |
As expected, the weather started out very active across southern New
Mexico and western Texas due to El Nino conditions over the eastern
Pacific Ocean. Strong to severe thunderstorms with hail and high winds
struck the region in October with colder more snowy weather developing
from late November through December. However warm, dry, and occasionally
windy weather returned in January. A slow moving low pressure system
produced much-need widespread rains in late February. The first half of March
was warm and dry again before a series of
low pressure systems brought windy, cooler and wetter weather across the Borderland.
October 26. Thunderstorms produce one-inch |