Albuquerque Festival Tent Flattened in Surprise Microburst; Wild Hailstorms Strike Denver

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A festival tent the size of a professional football field was flattened by an unexpected microburst in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Monday, injuring the festival's director in one of several powerful thunderstorms to rip across the southern Rockies and adjacent High Plains.

The Weather Channel has confirmed that no severe thunderstorm or tornado warnings had been issued by the National Weather Service in Albuquerque prior to the burst of wind, which hit the festival site at approximately 2:10 p.m. The NWS office issued a "significant weather advisory" for 55-mph wind gusts and half-inch-diameter hail at 2:14 p.m. for a "strong thunderstorm 7 miles southeast of Albuquerque" affecting eastern Bernalillo and northern Valencia counties.
"Most of us got knocked down by this gust of wind," Gore said. "I don't remember being hit by anything physically. But I remember looking up and a lot of guys were down on the ground as well. I don't know if a piece of the tent hit us or it was just the wind, it happened so fast."