'Power of nature' shows off

Three houses were destroyed by fire in Muleshoe. Portales' First Baptist Church lost a good portion of its roof. More than 8,000 homes were without power for hours throughout eastern New Mexico.

Sunday's winds, clocked as high as 84 mph in Dora, were blamed for all of the above.

Weather watchers reported sustained winds neared 60 mph for much of the day, leaving behind broken fences, trampolines in trees, and local yards and streets littered with large tree branches and trash.

The most serious damage was in Muleshoe where three homes were destroyed by fire caused by downed power lines, said Ricky Railsback, assistant fire chief of the Muleshoe Volunteer Fire Department.

That happened early Monday morning in the 200 block of West 11th Street. One home was vacant, but people lived in the others and had to evacuate.

"Nobody was hurt," Railsback said.

Muleshoe firefighters responded to three fires in all.

"One was on FM 1760," Railsback said. "It was a grass fire caused by a downed power line that involved about 10 acres."

A grass fire in town was started by a trampoline blowing into power lines.

"It was burning in people's yards, trees were on fire," Railsback said, but there was no structural damage in that case.

Clovis police said they responded to about two dozen calls for utility poles and wires down on Sunday afternoon and evening.

"We had at least six calls for trees down, some of those affecting power lines," Capt. Roman Romero said.

One fire began in a field due to downed power lines, but it burned itself out, he said. Two people called for assistance after being knocked to the ground by the wind, and there were at least three other medical calls due to the power outages, Romero said.

Police and emergency workers were just as busy in Portales.

"We had a mess Sunday," Portales Fire Chief T. J. Cathey said.

Officials reported a swimming pool and a trampoline were blown into power lines. A grass fire burned about 100 acres east of Portales. "It was most likely caused by a downed wire," Cathey said. "It's under investigation."

Roofers were already working Monday morning trying to repair Portales' First Baptist Church.

Andrew Church, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque described the storm as "the south side of a strong low-pressure system" that brought winds in excess of 70 mph throughout eastern New Mexico and West Texas.

"There's a lot of change in the Pacific causing systems to be stronger," Church said. "Typically we wouldn't see this kind of wind in February."

The NWS has two remote weather stations in the Clovis area, one close to town and the other at Cannon Air Force Base.

Sunday's highest gust of wind in Curry County, according to Church, was at 2:31 p.m. when the Cannon station recorded a 77-mph gust. The highest sustained wind was 58 mph at 2:55 p.m.

In Roosevelt County, weather observers reported gusts at 84 mph in Dora and 83 mph in Portales and Tucumcari.

Mary Finifrock-Ausland lost more than 12 feet of her backyard fence to Sunday's high winds. But she's taking it in stride, even appreciating nature's wonder.

"I don't mind the wind," she said on Monday. "I think it just shows the power of nature, the power of God. We have no control over nature. That's New Mexico, and I love it."

Finifrock-Ausland, who lives on Fairway Terrace in the Colonial Park section of Clovis, said she wasn't home when her fence collapsed.

"It actually made a pretty design," she said. "It looks like a fan."

Not everyone appreciated the show so much.

Xcel Energy crews restored service to most who lost power by Monday afternoon, according to company spokesman Wes Reeves.

"Approximately 72,000 customers across the region were affected by the event," Reeves wrote in a news release. At least 61,000 Xcel customers lost power during the storm, he said.

Up to 500 Xcel employees and contractors were called in to restore power, including crews from Colorado and Oklahoma.

Sunday's wind event resulted in a first for the area: The first time a "Dust Storm Warning" was issued in the Clovis/Portales area.

"The weather service added 'Dust Storm' and 'Snow Squall' watches and warnings to our list of advisories in 2018," Church said.

Church said a Dust Storm Warning is declared when visibility is only a quarter-mile over a large area.

"About the size of a county or bigger," Church said.

Lisa Pellegrino-Spear of Clovis Main Street said the wind blew down the recently installed clock in the city's Railroad Park near the intersection of First and Mitchell Streets.

But Pellegrino-Spear said the wind sculptures missing on Main Street in Clovis on Monday were not blown away by Sunday's wind. She took those down after they were damaged in the high winds of last Wednesday.

"My husband and I got them all fixed," Pellegrino-Spear said. "We're just waiting for a calm day to reinstall them."

That may be a few more days.

NWS' forecast calls for winds to return starting this afternoon, with southwest winds ramping up to 20- 30-mph. Gusts could be as high as 40 mph.

The wind will usher in a morning low of 33 degrees on Thursday with a 60% chance of rain. Friday will begin with temperatures in the 20s, but should warm steadily with seasonal winds in the 15-20 mph range, NWS reports.