Dust Warnings: Historic Increase in Duststorms Leads to Health Concerns in New Mexico, Texas Borderlands

With a dust storm advisory in effect for Tuesday through Thursday this week, Otero County residents and those in the New Mexico and Texas Borderlands communities are advised to be cautious.​

El Pass had the ninth-most polluted air among major U.S. cities in 2024, according to one global report released Tuesday and that was before a series of intense dust storms last week created some of the worst air quality conditions ever recorded in the city. The Borderlands area of Texas and New Mexico to include Alamogordo and Otero County is in the same category per university research analyst, as reported by NewMexicoConservativeNews.com. 

The historically intense dust storms El Paso, Southern New Mexico and the Borderlands area has experienced this spring could become the norm if record-setting heat and years-long drought persist in the borderland, according to scientists researching the cause and effects of the blowing dust and sand.

By most measures, the dusty season this year is the worst the Borderlands has experienced at least since the 1930s Dust Bowl – the series of droughts paired with poor soil management practices led to horrendous dust storms and triggered an exodus of Americans out of the drought-stricken regions.

Parts of Otero County and leading into Texas towards El Paso has experienced almost 24 hours of brownout conditions in recent months, the bouts of blowing dust and sand so intense that one can’t see more than a few hundred yards ahead with highway crashes and police recommendations to stay home and off the roads.

Forecasters expect another series of blowing dust storms to hit El Paso, Otero County New Mexico and the Borderlands this week from Tuesday through Friday. Average wind speeds so far this month have been slightly below the historical average, but the National Weather Service predicts gusts will top 40 miles per hour and greater this new week.

A monitoring station at Hueco Elementary School in Socorro, New Mexico shows the daily average concentration of small particulate matter – called PM 2.5 – at nearly 64 micrograms per cubic meter this year. That’s well above what the Environmental Protection Agency considers an unhealthy level of particulate pollution for anyone to be exposed to.

The region has experienced intense drought amid the driest two-year period here since the mid-1930s. And so far this year, the desert floor of Otero County and Alamogordo has seen limited rainfall and a dryer than normal winter. Usually by this time of year the area experiences, on average, 1.3  or more inches of precipitation, according to the National Weather Service.

And 2023 and 2024 were the two hottest years ever recorded for the area near El Paso to include Otero County New Mexico. 

So, historic heat has further dried out already-parched vegetation, leaving little organic material to anchor dust and sand to the ground in the areas surrounding Alamogordo and the fine mist of the gypsum sands of the White Sands adds to the atmospheric complexity.

Seniors and individuals that are health compromised are advised to seek filtered masks if traveling around the country in the most rural areas of high desert Tuesday through Thursday. Be wary of dust conditions when driving and pull over if visibility is lost to the far extreme right of roadways or onto parking lots. 

More News from Alamogordo

• El Paso CBP Agriculture Specialists Seized Nearly 300 lbs. of Prohibited Pork Products El Paso CBP Agriculture Specialists Seized Nearly 300 lbs. of Prohibited Pork Products
• NewMexicoConservativeNews.com Special Report: Transgender Military Ban a Local Perspective Pentagon Moves Forward with Transgender Ban. NewMexicoConservativeNews.com Special Report