El Paso area gets more tornado warnings than you might think; Borderland not immune from tornadoes

Strong, violent tornadoes are familiar to the plains and panhandle.

Although, the Borderland sees an occasional funnel cloud here and there, many wonder if El Paso is immune to tornadoes.

The National Weather Service in El Paso has issued tornado warnings in the past two days for the Fabens-Socorro-Tornillo area.

On average, the National Weather Service in El Paso issues one Tornado Warning per every three to five years for El Paso County.

Also, on average, NWS issues one Tornado Warning every one to two years for the entire area covered by the NWS in El Paso, including west Texas and southern New Mexico.

The NWS told ABC-7 one cause for the severity of these storms may be El Nino because it’s fairly characteristic for El Nino to send the Borderland more of upper lows, which can increase instability and severity.

Meteorologist John Fausett, with the National Weather Service in El Paso, told ABC-7 in May that the recent tornadoes throughout the country are the result of El Nino.

Wind sheer, and moisture are among the ingredients to provide rotation and thunderstorms, which can be concentrated into the tornadic scale.

There’s a misconception in the Borderland that tornadoes don’t happen here because of the mountains. Fausett said in October 2006 there was a tornado southwest of Deming.

“This was a classic wedge tornado that was southwest of Deming out in the desert. If it can happen there it can happen in El Paso county or city,”. Fausett said in May.

Mountains don’t prevent tornadoes — they make it a little more difficult for them to form. On May 2, 2007 there was a tornado at White Sands Missile Range headquarters, for example.

Click on the story under related content to the left of this story to read about a landspout tornado spotted near Ruidoso this past July.