Sand Storms near border (Las Cruces: tornadoes, gas, average)

[jhlcomp]

Hello all - set aside that I am a little nuts wanting to drive from Florida to Las Cruces, NM. Just saw from the weather report that between El Paso and Las Cruces along the border there is a severe weather warning with gusts up to 45 mph.

How often do these sand storms occur?

Thank you!!

[EnjoyEP]

Most often the winds occur like this in the spring time. I wouldn't say it is frequent for the sand storms to be of a high severity, but a "severe" one can happen a few times every spring on average it seems.

Typically, these storms are little more than a nuisance, although they can cause havoc on the roads if you are driving when it is really bad.

I wouldn't let this scare you though to come into the El Paso / Las Cruces region. Seriously, in comparison to the major weather you could encounter in the southeast (in terms of severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.), I would say that the sand storms in this region are far fewer and less overall than other regions' weather, and you could compare it to driving in a fluke blizzard - if in the off-chance it is bad enough to cause problems, you just pull off the road and wait at a store, gas station, etc., until the wind passes.

[jhlcomp]

Thank you - that's a big relief.