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The National Weather Service pushed an emergency alert to
cellphones that warned of zero-visibility conditions and adverse
health consequences for infants and the elderly. And in some
parts of the state, gusts have reached as high as 70 mph (113
kph).
The state is being hit by strong winds off an area of low
pressure directly over Kansas on Tuesday evening, while
extremely dry conditions over the last few months have created
prime conditions for fire threat and dust storms, said Marc
Chenard, meteorologist for the weather service.
Dry, dusty weather reduced visibility to almost zero in some
instances amid gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) along the
Albuquerque-Santa Fe corridor and high plains communities in
Torrance County, including towns along Interstate 40. Interstate
25 was opened after a brief closure near Cochiti Pueblo due to
dust, wind and poor visibility.
Blinding dust prompted New Mexico’s transportation department to
close a 130-mile stretch of Interstate 10, from the Arizona
state line to the outskirts of Las Cruces, along with state
highways near Deming.
High winds also led to road closures in the state's
oil-producing region near Roswell and Carlsbad.
“Motorists should not drive into a dust storm. Pull aside and
stay alive,” the National Weather Service said in a dust-storm
warning.
More than 39,000 customers were without power by Tuesday
evening, according to PowerOutage.us. The utility PNM said on X
that it was responding to several outages due to high winds and
suggested its customers prepare for the possibility of more
outages.
Authorities also warned of extreme conditions in the event of
wildfire, in the aftermath of a grasslands fire that prompted
evacuations Friday on the outskirts of Wagon Mound.
A brush fire ignited in Bosque Farms, a village just south of
Albuquerque, temporarily closing part of Highway 47, according
to Albuquerque TV station KOAT. The Valencia County Fire
Department said in a social media post that the fire has “burned
structures,” though the number of buildings that sustained
damage was not immediately clear.
Beyond New Mexico, dust storms last week resulted in a pileup in
western Kansas on Interstate 70 involving dozens of cars and
trucks that left eight people dead.
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