THE WEATHER BEAT · OCT 15

East wind reaches Arizona: Tucson High Wind Warning for gusts to 75 mph, Albuquerque and Guadalupe Pass watches now warnings

NWS Tucson warned of gusts of 55 to 75 mph from Thursday night to Saturday morning, Albuquerque and Guadalupe Pass moved from watches to warnings, and.

By the Weather Rock October 15, 2026, 2:49 p.m. · 8 min read

Santa Catalina Mountains, Tucson, Arizona — The Santa Catalina Mountains seen from Tucson, Arizona, photographed on 6 March 2023. Photo: Lorie Shaull, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Key points

NWS Tucson issued a High Wind Warning on Thursday morning for southeast Arizona, including Tucson, Nogales, Sierra Vista and Douglas. It calls for east to southeast gusts of 55 to 75 mph from 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. MST Saturday.
Yesterday's High Wind Watches for the Albuquerque Metro Area and Guadalupe Pass are now High Wind Warnings. The El Paso and southern California warnings are still in force.
On Thursday afternoon, NWS Midland/Odessa issued two Flash Flood Warnings in West Texas. Radar showed 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain had fallen near Ackerly and Snyder.

Wednesday's story was Southern California and El Paso. On Thursday the same east wind reached Arizona. NWS Tucson issued a High Wind Warning at 8:46 a.m. MST covering Tucson, Green Valley, Marana and Vail, the Santa Cruz River valley down to Nogales, and the high country around Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Douglas, Willcox and Safford. It calls for east to southeast winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts of 55 to 75 mph, from 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. MST Saturday. The office expects the worst on the downwind side of the ranges: "the strongest winds are expected on the leeward (west and northwest) sides of the mountains. Terrain gaps and east-west oriented valleys will also be susceptible to strong winds." The warning area includes the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains, Mount Lemmon and Picacho Peak State Park. Its impacts line reads: "Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages will be possible." Over open desert it also warns of blowing dust that could briefly cut visibility below a mile. A Wind Advisory follows from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. MST Saturday, with gusts of 50 to 60 mph.

Two watches from Wednesday are now warnings. NWS Albuquerque's High Wind Warning, sent at 9:04 a.m. MDT, covers the Middle Rio Grande Valley and the Albuquerque Metro Area, the Lower Rio Grande Valley, the South Central Highlands and the Upper Tularosa Valley. It calls for east winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 55 mph, from 6 p.m. Thursday to 9 a.m. MDT Friday. NWS Midland/Odessa's warning for the Guadalupe Mountains calls for northeast gusts up to 60 mph, "especially through Guadalupe Pass," from 7 p.m. MDT Thursday to midnight MDT Friday night. NWS El Paso reissued its warnings at 6:28 a.m. MDT with gusts up to 65 mph for El Paso and Hudspeth counties, Otero County and the Bootheel. Its text still names a "backdoor cold front arriving Thursday night" as the cause.

California's warnings are unchanged in substance. Los Angeles/Oxnard still expects gusts of 50 to 70 mph along the Interstate 5 Corridor and in the San Gabriels through 8 p.m. PDT Friday. San Diego's warnings for the mountains, the Inland Empire and the San Diego County valleys run into Saturday, and the office repeats that Friday should be the strongest day.

The wind numbers, by product

Office, sent	Product	Area	Wind	When
Tucson, 8:46 a.m. MST Thu	High Wind Warning	Tucson metro, Nogales, Sierra Vista, Benson, Douglas, Willcox, Safford, Santa Catalina and Rincon Mtns	E to SE 35 to 45 mph, gusts 55 to 75	11 p.m. Thu to 5 a.m. Sat
Tucson, 8:46 a.m. MST Thu	Wind Advisory	same area	E to SE 25 to 35 mph, gusts 50 to 60	5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sat
Albuquerque, 9:04 a.m. MDT Thu	High Wind Warning	Albuquerque Metro, Middle and Lower Rio Grande Valley, South Central Highlands, Upper Tularosa Valley	E 30 to 40 mph, gusts to 55	6 p.m. Thu to 9 a.m. Fri
Midland/Odessa, 11:03 a.m. MDT Thu	High Wind Warning	Guadalupe Mountains, Guadalupe Pass	NE 35 to 45 mph, gusts to 60	7 p.m. MDT Thu to midnight MDT Fri night
El Paso, 6:28 a.m. MDT Thu	High Wind Warning	El Paso and Hudspeth counties, Otero County, Sacramento Mtns	NE 30 to 40 mph, gusts to 65	6 p.m. Thu to noon Fri
El Paso, 6:28 a.m. MDT Thu	High Wind Warning	Bootheel, southern Hidalgo and Grant counties	E 30 to 40 mph, gusts to 65	9 p.m. Thu to midnight Fri night
Los Angeles/Oxnard, 7:38 a.m. PDT Thu	High Wind Warning	I-5 Corridor, San Gabriel Mtns and Hwy 14, Santa Susana Mtns, western Santa Monica Mtns	NE 25 to 45 mph, gusts 50 to 70	until 8 p.m. Fri
San Diego, 5:33 a.m. PDT Thu	High Wind Warning	San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego County Mtns, San Gorgonio Pass, Santa Ana Mtns, Inland Empire, San Diego County Valleys	gusts 45 to 65, locally 70	through Saturday, by zone

*Source: NWS alerts from api.weather.gov, read at 18:46 UTC on October 15, 2026. Times are local, as each office wrote them.*

Rain in West Texas

The other story on Thursday's wire was water, not wind. At 1:06 p.m. CDT, NWS Midland/Odessa issued a Flash Flood Warning for parts of Borden, Dawson, Howard and Martin counties. It said radar showed thunderstorms with "between 1.5 and 2.5 inches of rain" already fallen, and it named Ackerly, Gail, Vealmoor and Knott. Forty minutes later the office issued a second warning for Borden and Scurry counties, with the same rainfall range. That one named Snyder, Fluvanna, J B Thomas Reservoir, Randalls Corner, Winston Field, Knapp and Ira. The first warning ran to 3:15 p.m. CDT and the second to 4:15 p.m. CDT. Both were based on radar.

Office, sent	Product	Counties	Rain fallen, per the product	Until
Midland/Odessa, 1:06 p.m. CDT Thu	Flash Flood Warning	Borden, Dawson, Howard, Martin TX	1.5 to 2.5 in	3:15 p.m. CDT
Midland/Odessa, 1:46 p.m. CDT Thu	Flash Flood Warning	Borden, Scurry TX	1.5 to 2.5 in	4:15 p.m. CDT

*Source: NWS Midland/Odessa Flash Flood Warnings, api.weather.gov. Radar-estimated totals, not gauge reports.*

This is a summary, not emergency information. For live warnings see weather.gov and your local officials: NWS Tucson, NWS Albuquerque, NWS El Paso, NWS Midland/Odessa.

The rock's live forecast for the places in this story