Move aside sharks, a 'snow-nado' once popped up in New Mexico
This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by Chris Mei from The Weather Network, featuring stories about people, communities and events and how weather impacted them.
--
New Mexico is the 47th state to join the United States. They're known for their annual hot air balloon festival, White Sands National Monument, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, a research center for America's first atomic bomb, to name a few. They are not known for snow or tornadoes. And no places are known for both of those things at once.
On Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019, a snow-tornado was spotted in the Eastern Navajo Nation in Torreon, New Mexico.
🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe
🌪 Whoa!! Check out this Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter" or Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter" Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter" that touched down near Tinian, Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter" on Sunday courtesy Lydell Rafael
See & share your pics Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter"Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter" Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter" Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter" Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter"— Byron Morton KOAT (@ByronKOAT) Byron Morton KOAT on Twitter: "🌪 Whoa!! Check out this #snownado or #landspout #tornado that touched down near Tinian, #NewMexico on Sunday courtesy Lydell RafaelSee & share your pics https://t.co/9SLFAwwsdC#NMwx #SevereWeather #WinterStorm pic.twitter.com/bAxXCZ5dQe / Twitter"
A rancher filmed the landspout as it crossed a field picking up snow. The National Weather Service in Albuquerque confirmed that it was a landspout.
Time of radar image is 2221z / 3:22 pm MST; red dot is exact lat/lon of where Google Earth says Tinian is located #nmwx pic.twitter.com/F6es1h4TAU
Time of radar image is 2221z / 3:22 pm MST; red dot is exact lat/lon of where Google Earth says Tinian is located Stu Ostro on Twitter: "Time of radar image is 2221z / 3:22 pm MST; red dot is exact lat/lon of where Google Earth says Tinian is located #nmwx pic.twitter.com/F6es1h4TAU / Twitter" Stu Ostro on Twitter: "Time of radar image is 2221z / 3:22 pm MST; red dot is exact lat/lon of where Google Earth says Tinian is located #nmwx pic.twitter.com/F6es1h4TAU / Twitter"
— Stu Ostro (@StuOstro) Stu Ostro on Twitter: "Time of radar image is 2221z / 3:22 pm MST; red dot is exact lat/lon of where Google Earth says Tinian is located #nmwx pic.twitter.com/F6es1h4TAU / Twitter"
Landspouts live in the tornado family, but differ from a traditional cyclone because they aren't associated with a thunderstorm. Landspouts are created when a cumulus cloud is over a boundary of converging winds. It's essentially the same as a waterspout but over land instead of water.
The National Weather Service confirmed that this was the first tornado-like event on record for New Mexico during February.
You may have seen this photo making the rounds on social media, but I didn't want to share until confirmation was made.Indeed, New Mexico experienced its first reported tornado in February on Sunday, Feb 17.Via @NWSAlbuquerque, the landspout occurred near Tinian, NM! #nmwx pic.twitter.com/37G8hahXFO
You may have seen this photo making the rounds on social media, but I didn’t want to share until confirmation was made.
Indeed, New Mexico experienced its first reported tornado in February on Sunday, Feb 17.
Via Jorge Torres on Twitter: "You may have seen this photo making the rounds on social media, but I didn't want to share until confirmation was made.Indeed, New Mexico experienced its first reported tornado in February on Sunday, Feb 17.Via @NWSAlbuquerque, the landspout occurred near Tinian, NM! #nmwx pic.twitter.com/37G8hahXFO / Twitter", the landspout occurred near Tinian, NM! Jorge Torres on Twitter: "You may have seen this photo making the rounds on social media, but I didn't want to share until confirmation was made.Indeed, New Mexico experienced its first reported tornado in February on Sunday, Feb 17.Via @NWSAlbuquerque, the landspout occurred near Tinian, NM! #nmwx pic.twitter.com/37G8hahXFO / Twitter" Jorge Torres on Twitter: "You may have seen this photo making the rounds on social media, but I didn't want to share until confirmation was made.Indeed, New Mexico experienced its first reported tornado in February on Sunday, Feb 17.Via @NWSAlbuquerque, the landspout occurred near Tinian, NM! #nmwx pic.twitter.com/37G8hahXFO / Twitter"
So, the tornado-ish event is super rare for Feb., and it was met by something a bit more familiar with Feb, snow.
Luckily, this wind rotation didn't harm anyone or anything.
Props to the rancher who captured this on film.
To learn more about New Mexico's snow-nado, listen to today's episode of "This Day In Weather History."
Subscribe to 'This Day in Weather History': Apple Podcasts | Amazon Alexa | Google Assistant | Spotify | Google Podcasts | iHeartRadio | Overcast'
Thumbnail image courtesy of Courtesy Lydell Rafael