Brief storm pummels counties

Eastern New Mexico certainly got a May shower Friday, as a brief storm pummeled both Curry and Roosevelt counties with rain and hail.

Though the storm only lasted a few hours, a great deal of rain and hail found its way to residents. Local stations with Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) reported over a 24-hour period as high as 1.35 inches of rain in Curry County and 1.1 inches in Roosevelt County.

Residents in both counties reported golf-ball sized hail.

Fears of rain, which turned out to be well-founded, forced the postponement of Portales High School’s graduation to Saturday, which saw partly cloudy skies and a high of 81.

Rain is likely again for Sunday and Monday, with the chances of precipitation 80% and 70%, respectively. Today’s high will be 72, with an overnight low of 55.