Welcome to The Weather Scene segment! Each week here on Geek Alabama, The Weather Scene will feature weather related content. Editor / publisher Nathan Young loves weather related content. And this segment will feature something about the weather every week.
One of the prettiest tornadoes of the year tracks across fields of flowers as it spirals up red dust, and almost nobody was there to see it.
At the late May peak of tornado season in 2025, a sneak event in eastern New Mexico surprised most storm chasers, becoming a candidate for the Tornado of the Year — though some stout competition would follow elsewhere over the Great Plain in June. The primary storm chase target for May 25th, the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, was quite obvious: the Caprock region of the southern Texas Panhandle.
However, some subtle clues suggested a secondary target 150 miles to the west near Portales, New Mexico could be a profitable venture too. Just a handful of chasers — no more than six individuals, as best we can tell, were able to view the stunning tornado that developed from a high-based, low-precipitation supercell thunderstorm just east of the village of Floyd. Based on downed power poles and some additional indicators, the tornado was rated at EF-1 intensity, but particle motions suggest a far stronger vortex while the tornado roamed the open prairie.
Categories: Weather Talk Stuff
