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I lived in New Jersey almost my entire life before moving here 2 years ago. I will take 365 days of this wind easily, before I would endure one more cold gray day with wet snow in New Jersey. I don't know why this is an issue. I think people who live here become spoiled weather-wise after a period of time. For me, it's all about escaping wet, cold and gray climates. If the trade-off is wind, then so be it.
I lived in New Jersey almost my entire life before moving here 2 years ago. I will take 365 days of this wind easily, before I would endure one more cold gray day with wet snow in New Jersey. I don't know why this is an issue. I think people who live here become spoiled weather-wise after a period of time. For me, it's all about escaping wet, cold and gray climates. If the trade-off is wind, then so be it.
Very well said...I felt the exact same way. I still tell people here, folks, if WIND is the worst of your weather problems, you're pretty well off.
I'm not worried about finding strong winds in Las Cruces, I have lived almost 50 years in Chicago and we have to put up with wind too. Sometimes they blow so hard near Lake Michigan that it can throw you down to the ground if you don't hold on something. Whenever there are rain storms, these are usually accompanied by strong winds or even tornados. I'm moving to Las Cruces because I'm tired of cold winters and their short gray days which depress me. The sun in Las Cruces revitalizes me, with wind and without wind.
I'm not worried about finding strong winds in Las Cruces, I have lived almost 50 years in Chicago and we have to put up with wind too. Sometimes they blow so hard near Lake Michigan that it can throw you down to the ground if you don't hold on something. Whenever there are rain storms, these are usually accompanied by strong winds or even tornados. I'm moving to Las Cruces because I'm tired of cold winters and their short gray days which depress me. The sun in Las Cruces revitalizes me, with wind and without wind.
Keep in mind that in Las Cruces, wind means dust storms. As you know, every place has its respective ups and downs, and this would classify as one of Cruces' downs. After a while, you simply accommodate for it...though it's not always fun driving through newer parts of the city where much of the soil has been left exposed, making for fun driving conditions at zero visibility. Not great for the paint job, either.
Word to the wise: When I worked at White Sands Missile Range, we had frequent occurrences related to the wind specific to vehicle damage. A big one was windshield damage due to extreme changes in air pressure. This is more common in areas closer to mountain slopes (such as White Sands Main Post). The best way to deal with it is leave your window cracked (even a millimeter will do).
That said, your decision to move to Cruces is well-founded. Welcome!
You are moving to a really nice part of NM. As for the winds, we personally hate them: From mid April til June we gripe, but then we think about no real other weather problems and we thank God. I think the worst is like was just said, they are dust and dirt storms so you will actually get dirt in the house, not just a lot of blowing. NMnita
What are the restrictions on setting up a household sized windmill? Not the 400 ft giants GE is pushing but something to pump water of generate a little electricity.
I spent the first 22 years of my life in New Mexico fighting the wind and dust. I would never go back. Just wait until you have a dirt ring around your mouth, dirt blowing out of all your car air vents, dust and dirt piling up on all your furniture and a nice sand blast of any exposed skin. It's a novelty at first...but it never goes away! They closed our school one day early because the dust was so bad it was working its way into all the classrooms.
I spent the first 22 years of my life in New Mexico fighting the wind and dust. I would never go back. Just wait until you have a dirt ring around your mouth, dirt blowing out of all your car air vents, dust and dirt piling up on all your furniture and a nice sand blast of any exposed skin. It's a novelty at first...but it never goes away! They closed our school one day early because the dust was so bad it was working its way into all the classrooms.
I see every year on the national news about the elderly dying in the Dallas/Ft.Worth metroplex of high heat and humidity in the summer months so i guess we all have our problems eh........
My mother lives about 1 mile SW of Carrizozo and the wind blows all the time. Some days it's really bad, more than 50 mph, and others it's not so bad, 15-20 mph. She has only a few days a year where there is no wind. The winter is the worst because it gets cold AND windy. She has to break ice in her animal's waterers all winter long. It is also very hot in the summer. It is beautiful, but the wind is the price you will pay.
I spent the first 22 years of my life in New Mexico fighting the wind and dust. I would never go back. Just wait until you have a dirt ring around your mouth, dirt blowing out of all your car air vents, dust and dirt piling up on all your furniture and a nice sand blast of any exposed skin. It's a novelty at first...but it never goes away! They closed our school one day early because the dust was so bad it was working its way into all the classrooms.
Its funny...I grew up in the Midwest, and they closed my school multiple days nearly each and every year due to high snow / blizzards / even cold. I guess compared to that, having one day of school cancelled once due to a high wind / dust storm, the one wind / dust cancellation seems pretty mild.
Again, while the wind / dust can occasionally be an issue in NM for sure in the springtime, I truly believe that it shows how tame otherwise weather issues are here in NM.
I see so many other regions in the nation such as the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas with so many harsher weather extremes - the severe and long thunderstorms (with hail) that can create far more havoc than a dust storm, the tornadoes (that fortunately rarely occur in NM (when they do it is very out-of-the-norm), the high humidity levels, etc. When that is all factored in, the wind doesn't seem so bad to deal with.
Transversely, in the northern states, they typically have to deal with all of these items in addition to high snowfalls, blizzards, etc. It is nice living in an area like ABQ, NM where snow averages are a scant 7-to-11 inches and snow of a significant level (like we had this winter) is a complete abberation, rather than the norm.
In fact, there are not many regions in the U.S. I can think of that have less problematic weather conditions than New Mexico's non-high mountain areas...the SE, Texas, NE, Midwest, Pac NW, much of the lower SW (extreme heat waves), etc., all seem to be much more problematic with weather than us considering hurricanes, long rainstorms, severe t-storms, earthquakes, tornadoes, humidity, blizzards, snow, etc. Compared to all of that, some windy days don't seem so bad.
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