Tornadoes touch down briefly

link A shot of the sky submitted by reader Nikki Payne of Clovis.

Staff report

Weather officials and Curry County law enforcement reported two tornadoes “momentarily” touched down in Curry County early Friday evening.

No major damage or injuries were reported.

Undersheriff Wesley Waller said the Curry County Sheriff's Office received two reports of tornado touchdowns at U.S. 60-84 and Curry Road O and in the Pleasant Hill area shortly after 5 p.m., which triggered the city’s tornado sirens. Chris Lockett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said radar and photos posted on the weather service’s Twitter account confirmed the tornadoes.

Waller said deputies sent to the impacted areas didn’t find damage and the areas were sparsely populated.

Lockett said the photos from the line of storms in Curry County exhibited an impressive wall clouds and dust kicks ups.

“The radar detected the signature of tornadoes,” Lockett said.

Heavy rains and strong winds accompanied the storm system, which roared flowed mostly west to east.

Lockett said a wind gust of 78 mph and nearly three-quarter of an inch of rain were reported at Clovis Municipal Airport.

He said to expect more of the same weather pattern today as air masses from the east and the west clash over the central U.S. mountain chain.

FAST FACTS

Rain totals as of 9:30 p.m., Friday according to the KVII SchoolNet weather tracking system:

• Clovis: .55

• Ranchvale: .50

• Melrose: .16

• Portales: .03

• Elida: .16

• Farwell: .79

• Bovina: .21