Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - Roswell NM
< previous day | archives | next day >
Valley of Fires, Carrizozo NM, April 28, 2009
Quick unedited upload from a bad connection
Baaaaaaa
Dodged a bullet
Maybe bigger than a bullet. I have been dragging my heels getting my trek east under way partly to let this bit of weather that's been forecast on the CONUS map for eastern New Mexico dissipate before I pass through. I didn't drag quite hard enough...
I arrived here in Roswell about 5:00 PM to the sound of the thunderstorm I had been traveling beside for the last few miles coming over US 70 from Tularosa. When I checked the weather map I found this warning:
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 503 PM MDT TUE APR 28 2009
NMC005-027-282330- /O.CON.KABQ.SV.W.0010.000000T0000Z-090428T2330Z/ CHAVES-LINCOLN- 503 PM MDT TUE APR 28 2009
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR EXTREME EAST CENTRAL LINCOLN AND CENTRAL CHAVES COUNTIES UNTIL 530 PM MDT...
AT 501 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF ROSWELL...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
- THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... 9 MILES NORTH OF ROSWELL AROUND 525 PM MDT... 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF BITTER LAKE WILDLIFE REFUGE AROUND 530 PM MDT...
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL. SEEK SHELTER NOW INSIDE A STURDY STRUCTURE AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM MDT TUESDAY EVENING FOR EASTERN NEW MEXICO.
&&
LAT...LON 3368 10441 3333 10434 3341 10494 3359 10494 TIME...MOT...LOC 2302Z 269DEG 16KT 3350 10466
$$
40
Does hail dent aluminum?
I took a couple of heel-dragging hikes this morning
First was a dawn walk on the developed loop trail out into the lava beds at Valley of Fires. What an amazing environment that is. That patch of solidified lava flow must have been darned near impossible to cross before roads were blasted through. While it is inhospitable to human incursion it sure is an oasis in the desert to the local plants and animals. The plant growth is really lush. I got some nice pictures I want to share here once I figure out a way to build an album.
Then I went a few miles south to visit the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site
Home to a wonderful collection of over 20,000 petroglyphs. More pictures to share.
Night camp
Wal-Mart Supercenter in Roswell NM
Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #611, 4500 "A" North Main, Roswell, NM 88201 - (575) 623-2062
- Good level parking
- Verizon cell phone service- Extended Network reception ok
- Verizon EVDO Broadband service - Occasionally exceeds dialup speeds on Extended Network
- Find other Wal-Marts in the area
- Check the weather here
The Heliograph in the Apache Wars
"The mountains and the sun...were made his allies, the eyes of his command, and the carriers of swift messages. By a system of heliograph signals, communications were sent with almost incredible swiftness; in one instance a message traveled seven hundred miles in four hours. The messages, flashed by mirrors from peak to peak of the mountains, disheartened the Indians as they crept stealthily or rode swiftly through the valleys, assuring them that all their arts and craft had not availed to conceal their trails, that troops were pursuing them and others awaiting them. The telescopes of the Signal Corps, who garrisoned the rudely built but impregnable works on the mountains, permitted no movement by day, no cloud of dust even in the valleys below to escape attention. Little wonder that the Indians thought that the powers of the unseen world were confederated against them."