October 21st, 2018.
12,003' Sierra Blanca Peak West Of Ruidoso, NM.
Once again back to the Sacramento Mountains of south-central New Mexico with my best friend and wife (Diane) this past Sunday. There is a lot going on in the photo above of Sierra Blanca Peak just west of Ruidoso, New Mexico. Cumulus clouds with bases around 8,000' above the valley below were just topping the very tip of the peak. Its fall and the aspens have turned in the high country.
Sadly however the Little Bear Forest Fire in June of 2012 (more blogs about this fire in the archive section on the right hand side of my web page) took its toll on these beautiful trees. Many of them are simply gone...not to return in my life, and perhaps even in my grandchildren's lifetime.
High winds have downed some of them on the mountain making me wonder if some of these were taken out by microbursts? Note too the play of the shadows and light on the peak as the sun peaked in and out of the clouds. Our view was exhilarating in the cool crispness of the October afternoon with temps at 10,000' near 50º. All of my life I've observed this peak from afar (the Pecos Valley of Southeastern New Mexcio) and always have stood in awe of its splendor.
Category 5 Hurricane Willa.
Snapshot At 3:15 PM MDT Monday.
Snapshot Taken At 4:07 PM MDT This Monday Afternoon.
As of 3 PM MDT this Monday afternoon Category 5 Hurricane Willa was located about 135 miles south-southwest of Las Islas, Mexico and was creeping to the north at 8 mph. She had sustained winds of 155 mph with gusts near 190 mph. Earlier today she had sustained winds of 160 mph with gusts near 200 mph! Her central pressure is down to 929 millibars or 27.44 inches of mercury.
Devastating storm surge will rake the Mexican Coastline as Willa moves inland late Tuesday night. As she breaks up over inland central Mexico she is forecast to unload some 10 inches to 20 inches of rain or more in some spots this week which will cause catastrophic flooding and flash flooding along with mud slides.
Update On Her Remnant Moisture Impacts On Our Area.
Valid Tonight Into 6 PM MDT Thursday.
WPC Storm Total Rainfall Forecast.
Valid Tonight Into 6 PM MDT Thursday.
Clouds will increase tonight into Tuesday as the upper level trough of low pressure to our west begins to ease eastwards toward us tomorrow into Wednesday. Our chances for widespread moderate to locally heavy rains go up especially tomorrow night into Wednesday morning. Locally one half of an inch to one and a half inches of rain is forecast to fall over Southeastern New Mexico and nearby areas by Thursday. A few spots stand a decent chance of seeing more than this.
Another couple of cools days are coming up with the cloudy and rainy skies with highs on Tuesday and Wednesday both projected to be mostly in the 50's. Remember one week ago today we woke up to temperatures in the 20's and 30's with wind chills in the 20's in SE NM and the single digits and teens in NE and E NM and parts of the Texas Panhandle.
The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction - And Sometimes It Hurts!
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