If you are in southern New Mexico this is not a good day to be traveling. Winds gusting up to 70 mph. The gypsum from White Sands National Park and dust from everywhere else browns the sky. It will spread far and wide before the winds abate and drop it on the unsuspecting. It wasn’t a surprise. Weather.com has been broadcasting it for days.
I’m glad we aren’t pulling our 28′ 5th wheel on a must-travel day. Here’s a screen shot of the New Mexico Road Advisory Page. See all the brown triangles with a sun peeping over clouds. Those are weather advisories — Blowing dust may limit visibility. Just about every southern county has at least one. The red circle with white rectangle on the left is even worse — the road has been temporarily closed down until the winds abate. If the visibility doesn’t get you, the swaying of your rig will. It’s one of those days to find a building to block the wind and hunker down.
Such days are tough on your vehicle’s air filter. Expect to have to change it more often if you drive through dust storms.
Tree branches are twisting and flopping. I went out for my dusk walkabout and now my eyes feel like I’ve been at the beach all afternoon. It may be time for an allergy pill.
I can smell dust in the house. I’ll have to mop the floors to remove the powder-like dust that makes walking on tiles a bit hazardous.
A wildfire began 20-25 miles away as the crow flies. Right off a highway so the alert went up probably within minutes of the start. The fire was tamped down so quickly that it covered less than an acre. That’s what I call fast.
Trekking Tess 