Eastern New Mexico under tornado watch

Most of eastern New Mexico is under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The watch applies to Curry, De Baca and Roosevelt counties.

A tornado watch means conditions are favorable for the development of a tornado.

The weather warning kicks off what promises to be an eventful 48 hours for the region.

The city of Clovis issued an advisory Tuesday of what it calls a “highly complex and potentially historic storm system that will impact New Mexico for the next 36-48 hours.”

The expected conditions include fast-moving thunderstorms capable of hail up to baseball-sized, damaging wind and a small chance of tornadoes in east central and southeast New Mexico.

Gusts of up to 75 mph are expected across much of central and eastern New Mexico on Wednesday.

Elsewhere around the state, in the northern and western areas, heavy snow was expected after midnight with difficult driving conditions.

Out of caution, Eastern New Mexico University alerted students it was closing the campus at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Kerry Jones, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Albuquerque branch, posted on his Twitter account (@peakwx), “No colorful graphics. Just a heartfelt message to please heed (weather) warnings next 36-48 hours, have a plan and know where to go for safety. As much as I love (weather), it will become dangerous for parts of #NM between severe storms, historically high wind and snow.”