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Some comments about "small" tornados in Eastern NM are related to chances of "large" tornados. For any given region, there is probably some distribution of 1-2-3-4-5 - sized tornadoes that holds true. We don't see "large" ones in NM because we don't see many of any kind - relatively speaking.
The [Tornadoes Around the World] link is especially telling. The US gets it really bad. There is no place in the world remotely comparable even to Oklahoma alone.
I found the [Tornadoes from 1959 - 2003] link interesting because it shows some areas where there is a solid line of 'hits' in many many areas.
BTW, for those that don't already know this bit; tornadoes in the vast majority of cases move from the SW to the NE. If you see one North or West of your location, you can probably just stop and watch it because it is moving away from you.
They also don't move as fast as the news likes to say they do. A tornadoes ground speed is usually 20 - 50 miles an hour; but the odd 70 mph speed demon can be observed. (cite: Twister: The Finger of God. (http://chci.wrdsb.on.ca/library/twister.htm - broken link) )
However, due to geometry and such, you might be going 80 mph on the road you are on, but unless your vector is correct, you might not get away from the twister. (you might be better off staying put)
Sometimes the fates just reach right out and getcha. I am appalled by the number of houses in tornado alley that do not have storm cellars or hardened rooms. These should be part of the building code requirements.
It doesn't sound like Santa Fe got any hail. ? I left my plants outside hoping if my housemate forgets to water them, nature will. Hopefully they have survived the two weeks I've been gone and the NM weather not to mention the animals (they ate all my spring onions weeks ago.)
It's coming back to me why I stopped trying to grow things from seed when I lived there--seemed like I always had to go on a business trip at a crucial time. I remember when I moved to Eldorado in '95 waking up in July to a white yard--full of hail. I love the weather in NM--nope--never boring. I'll find out Sunday when I get home if I still have plants growing.
I like the maps Mortimer provided links to. I would like to add a few comments. There are some caveats to consider. First, they are based on reported tornados. Because of the sparse population of New Mexico, and various communications problems over the years, I'm convinced that many tornados have come and gone without making it into the statistics. The Storm Data publication was begun in 1959, but the National Weather Service (NWS) did not put a lot of emphasis on accurate storm data statistics until the late 1980s, when Congress grilled them (I was there and remember the "grilling") in response to criticism of the NWS by the private sector. Even in the 1990s, it wasn't unusual to have someone casually report a tornado that had occurred in New Mexico months before...a tornado that you wouldn't find in Storm Data. Unlike areas of the country with more forested land and other man-made structures, a tornado frequently won't change the landscape of New Mexico, so many of them do not leave a footprint. That's another thing...the Fujita scale is a damage scale...so...historically, many New Mexico tornados were called "F0," (it would be "EF0" now) because no one had a clue how strong they were. The bottom line...IMHO...is that one could use the historical map, but slide those yellow-orange shades a bit westward. Depending on how one wants to define tornado alley, I would suggest tornado alley has its beginnings in eastern New Mexico. We're fortunate that the majority of New Mexico tornados form on the "dry line" that tends to move eastward into Texas by dark when it is active...allowing us to see what's coming and get out of the way. And, for a number of meteorological reasons, it's quite likely that most New Mexico tornados are on the weaker side.
We did have hail ... a week ago, I think it was on Thursday (all my days are running together right now. ) It hailed for an hour here in the morning and accumulated a little bit in the yard. But it was tiny - pea-sized - and I don't think it did any damage anywhere in the Santa Fe area.
My mate and I were in Santa Fe on our weekly supply run this past Wednesday. Having been reared in Tornado Alley, I was keeping wary watch on the storm clouds over the pass. We decided to delay our return to Las Vegas by an hour. Lucky for us... we missed by less than 30 minutes a storm that dumped hail sized 3/4" to 2" (according to weather service reports) with winds in excess of 60mph. I-25 from San Juan to Tecolote had 1/2" hail accumulation, fog lifting from the vaporizing ice caused intermittent white-out conditions between Ribera and Romeroville, roughly 17 miles.
Around 9:30 that night, a massive storm north of Tucumcari washed out Hwy 104 near the south end of Lake Conchas. San Miguel Sheriff Dept. officers manning a roadblock reported 2.75" hail and a tornado in open country about 10 miles north of Tucumcari.
That sort of weather is surprising in NM, especially the supercell in Tularosa!
I got hailed on between Springer and Raton once on my motorcycle; that wasn't the most fun I've ever had. I thought to myself, "This rain sure does hurt", looked down at my hands and saw the hailstones bouncing off my knuckles. I was still 20+ miles from Raton, so I turned around and spent the night in Springer.
Hi Y'all, we are NM bound someday, but fer now live in Tornado area that kinda surrounds us, the storms here in the Midsouth where we live get split by a couple of lakes around here so our particular locale gets spared so many times in the last 4yrs.
the Real point i wanna make it this , DO NOT STAY IN YOUR CAR IF YOU ARE NEAR A TORNADO, get the heck out, and find a ditch to lay in or head for an inner closet with no windows, safer is bathtub, put pillows or mattress , blankets over you to protect from flying debris.If you can fit into a culvert or your child can do it, We see cars thrown all over here in the surrounding areas of the midsouth and midwest, i do have a feeling from what has been said, that your twisters are small ones for the most part, just don't underestimate them, because how many have you seen up close ? have fun and enjoy it ,all Rain is a good thing for NM, never curse it, bless it for more.
> ... ... many tornados have come and gone without making it into the statistics. ...
That might be somewhat balanced out by people '"reporting" funnel clouds that are just 'long-ish' 'dark-ish' clouds that are not rotating.
I also note here that I really enjoy going out for a walk just as a big monsoon storm is getting ready to dump in my area. As long as the storm is not accompanied by a bunch of dry lightning, it's relatively harmless.
The clouds can really 'boil' and swirl and provide for much 'drama.'
I've seen more interesting swirling and boiling in Albuquerque summer monsoonal clouds than I have in 'tornadic' clouds back in Ohio and some of those were fantastic.
One time I was on the N Diversion channel next to the UNM Golf Course and just watched it pour and pour. A few minutes later, the water started coming down the huge arroyo.
What is interesting is that when one arroyo joins another arroyo in it's flow, downstream this can be seen as a standing wave on top of a flowing layer.
That is, you'll see water flowing smoothly about 1.5 feet deep and then a 6" 'step' comes flowing down - appearing to ride on top of the 1.5 feet of water already in there. Once it passes, the water is then 2 feet deep and so on.
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) It hailed for an hour here in the morning and accumulated a little bit in the yard. But it was tiny - pea-sized - and I don't think it did any damage anywhere in the Santa Fe area.
On Cars in Tornados...
