Winds Cause Damage, Snow Falls In El Paso

Days of above normal temperature gave way to winds gusting above 60 miles and and snow flurries on Thursday.

Heavy snow fell in the upper valley and west El Paso Thursday afternoon as a cold front moved through the borderland area. Trans Mountain is closed until further notice, according to TxDOT officials.

Before the snow came, winds blew through the area, wreaking havoc.

In Northeast El Paso, gusts tore the front porch roof off a home on the 3400 block of Atlas. The large debris landed behind the home in neighbor Gary Albone’s backyard.

“‘What the heck happened?’ was our reaction,” he told ABC-7.

Pieces of roof took out part of the neighbors’ shared rock wall and even managed to damage power lines. No one was injured.

Crews worked in the snow to replace an electrical pole, leaving neighbors without power for at least 10 hours.

ABC-7 meteorologist Jorge Torres said, there have been 50 mph wind gusts throughout Southern New Mexico with snow falling in Silver City, T or C, rain in Deming as of noon.

A strong winter storm will bring high winds to southern New Mexico and western Texas. A high wind warning remains in effect until 8 pm mst this evening. Winds will come from the southwest to west winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 60 mph. Wind gusts to 75 mph may occur along eastern slopes. Blowing dust will lower visibilities to under a 1/2 mile over the lowlands Thursday afternoon, especially across portions of interstates 10 and 25 from El Paso, Las Cruces, Hatch and also in the Deming and Lordsburg vicinities. Visibilities will begin to improve later this afternoon behind the cold front.

Related Links:Link:Tips For Driving In High WindsLink:Travel Section: TxDOT Traffic Cams, Texas And New Mexico Road ConditionsLink:KVIA Interactive Radar