Dust Bowl

The dust in the last few days has been bothersome, but for a real dust storm, consider this photo of New Mexico in 1935 -- during the "Dust Bowl."

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Tags: Weather

Wind = Dust

Strong winds today, from the West.

This is what the Organs looked like this afternoon with the dust in the air.

Tags: Organ Mountains, Weather

No Snow!

The surprising story in the last few weeks has been the lack of snow in Las Cruces. There's been extensive snowfall to the east, north, and west -- even some snow south in El Paso -- but virtually none here since January 6th. A couple of mornings you could see light snow on the Organs, but it didn't last long.

Here's what the Organs looked like yesterday:


Tags: Organ Mountains, Snow

Snow!

Las Cruces got snow this morning -- but light on the west side and very light in the Organs.

The east side of Las Cruces got about an inch. Here what a pecan orchard looked like just outside of town:

This was taken in the foothills of the Organ Mountains, in Solidad Canyon. Even though this is 1200+ feet above Las Cruces, there's little snow.

Another view:

Here's a closeup of the windmill. This being the West, it's got a few bullet holes.

This shows how light the snow was:

By afternoon, the sun was out and snow was going fast.

Tags: Las Cruces, Snow, Solidad Canyon, Windmill

Happy New Year!

2006 ends with no snow in Las Cruces, even though most of New Mexico and the United States has snow -- Albuquerque has 24 inches! Temperatures here are still in the low 70s, high 60s during the day.

There was a small sprinkling of snow on the peaks of the Organ Mountains this morning, which was gone by early afternoon. This photo was taken just before it began to melt.

Happy New Year!

Tags: Las Cruces, Snow

Tornado, Hail, Flooding

A severe storm moved through Las Cruces yesterday, producing a tornado, up to quarter-sized hail, and some flooding. The tornado was sighted moving toward the city from the west, but did no damage and apparently was small.

Here's a photo of the leading edge of the storm.


Tags: Tornado, Hail

More Rain - 9/2/06

The rain continues to fall, which is welcomed, but when rain falls in the desert, it's often intense, creating flooding and erosion.

Here's a shot of the rain coming down at this moment.

More Rain - 8/31/06

Parts of Las Cruces received at least 1.9 inches during the night.


Here you can see a rain storm rolling across the Organ Mountains.

One consequence of rain is dazzling sunsets:



Tags: Rain Las Cruces

Doña Ana County Declared Disaster Area

The Federal Government has just declared Doña Ana County a disaster area.

The most recent flooding hit Radium Springs hard, which is just north of Las Cruces.


Radium Springs is the site of Fort Selden, which was an active fort from 1866-1877 and from 1881-1891.




Today Fort Selden is a State Monument.

Tags: Doña Ana County, Fort Selden, Radium Springs

Rain, Rain, Rain ...

The big news in Las Cruces, and all of southern New Mexico, is rain - and flooding! The yearly average for Las Cruces is about 6.5 inches. So far this year, the Weather Service has reported 9.7 inches.

But many local areas have had much more rain than that, some by 3 or 4 inches. It is quite common for rain to fall heavily in very localized areas. Here's an example, taken today at sunset, looking over Las Cruces to the West.


The flooding has been severe in Hatch, New Mexico, and in some of the areas surrounding Las Cruces.




Hatch is famous for its green chiles -- in fact, few in New Mexico doubt that Hatch produces the finest chiles in the world.

Have the chiles been harmed?

So far, not too much. But prices are already higher.

Tags: Rain, Hatch Green Chiles, Flooding, Yearly Rainfall