Windy day gives way to rain

The wind blew hard enough Friday to knock over a street light - just a typical spring day on the High Plains.

But then something magical happened.

It rained.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Clay Anderson said he received a call from a Melrose resident who told him Friday was the first time that community had seen rain since October.

Clovis saw 2/10ths of an inch of moisture, improving its total for the year to a half inch.

Portales recorded 6/10ths of an inch on Friday, doubling its rainfall total since Jan. 1, according to KVII-TV's downtown weather station.

The wet almost made us forget about the wind. Almost.

The hyena at Clovis' Hillcrest Park Zoo hated Friday.

"He just did not want to go out in the wind," Assistant Zoo Director Mark Yannotti said.

"Now some of the hoofstock react to it, like they might like it. The wildebeest was all frisky this (Friday) morning, the wind got him going. Some of them don't like it, some of them do, just like people."

The people who play high school sports were not thrilled with the weather. The combination of wind and rain resulted in cancellations of several baseball and softball games, plus tennis matches.

Anderson said Clovis saw sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. Portales saw about the same.

A street light at the corner of Plaza Drive and Smith Avenue in Clovis was knocked over by wind, landing on a residential fence and leaving a power line in the middle of the road.

Xcel Energy spokesman Wes Reeves said there were no other reports of pole damage, though there were four outages in Clovis affecting 19 customers.

Anderson said there will be significantly less wind today, with speeds around 10 to 15 mph at most during the day and possibly reaching 20 mph at night.

"It will be a relatively cool weekend for mid-April, but we're not expecting big winds or any significant weather over the weekend," Anderson said.