Opinion: Tornado season can be any time on High Plains

Tornado season on the High Plains generally lasts from April through June.

More than 80 percent of twisters in the eastern New Mexico-Texas Panhandle region since the 1950s have occurred in those three months, records show. May and June are by far the busiest months for the big winds.

But eastern New Mexico knows better than to rely on statistics. The Clovis-area’s two largest tornadoes in the past century occurred in March and September.

Many of us remember the last one.

Fifteen years ago, on March 23, 2007, 10 different twisters touched down in eastern New Mexico. They damaged 500 homes in Clovis, killed two people, caused three dozen injuries, damaged 50 more homes and recreational vehicles in Logan, and killed 300 dairy cows in Roosevelt County.

The previous record for tornado damage in the area occurred Sept. 17, 1944. That Sunday night, eight homes were demolished in Clovis, others were damaged, and three people were hospitalized.

The National Weather Service reports New Mexico averages only 10 tornadoes a year. “New Mexico experiences mostly weak, short-lived tornadoes. Strong tornadoes, while rare, are possible and occur about once every 10 years,” according to weather.gov .

NWS also tells us 75 percent of New Mexico’s tornadoes occur in eastern New Mexico. Mostly those twisters form in unpopulated areas and become more intense as they move northeast into the Texas Panhandle where damage and fatalities are far more common.

The National Weather Service statistics show we’re more likely to see damage from storms that don’t produce tornadoes this spring and summer. “Most counties across the eastern half of the state will see large hail ranging from golf ball to baseball sized at least 6 to 8 times during the spring and also during the summer thunderstorm season,” NWS reports.

But devastation caused by tornadoes has occurred many times through the years in our state. Three people were killed by a tornado in Wagon Mound in 1930, three dozen Boy Scouts were injured while camping at Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron in 1960, and a 1996 tornado at Cimarron caused nearly $2 million in damages with six injuries.

AccuWeather.com predicts this April will be a particularly severe month for weather across the United States.

“April looks like a very active month,” according to an AccuWeather news release. “That could be the most active as far as the number of tornadoes.

“Between 200 and 275 tornadoes are forecast to spin up in April, significantly more than what unfolded last April, when 73 tornadoes were recorded, and well above the average of 155.”

Dan Heerding, the emergency management coordinator for the city of Clovis, said data shows “tornado alley” seems to be moving south and east from its historic home in the Great Plains.

That’s good for us.

But it’s always a good idea to watch the clouds, heed the warnings of weather forecasters and remember at least these statistics:

Strong tornadoes, while rare in eastern New Mexico, are possible and occur about once every 10 years … and our last big tornado was 15 years ago this month.

— David Stevens

Publisher

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