New Mexico measles expands into a second county - By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
New Mexico health officials reported a measles case in Eddy County Tuesday, the first infection detected beyond neighboring Lea County since the outbreak began in mid-February.
Lea County added two more cases, raising the reported infections there to 32. Neither county has reported any hospitalizations for measles.
“Any measles diagnosis is a concern, and we are watching every case closely,” NMDOH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Miranda Durham said in a statement. “We are heartened by the number of New Mexicans getting vaccinated in response to this outbreak.”
Since Feb. 1, nearly 9,000 New Mexicans have received a measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, compared to 5,342 statewide last year, according to NMDOH.
The growth in measles cases prompted U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), along with 11 other U.S. senators, on Tuesday to send a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding he launch a national vaccination campaign. As widely reported, during a recent interview on Fox News, Kennedy acknowledged that vaccines prevent infection, but also made various unfounded statements about the disease.
“As you have acknowledged, the measles vaccine is an important tool to protect children and contribute to community immunity against this life-threatening infection,” the letter from the senators said. “However, increasing vaccine misinformation and hesitancy has lowered vaccination rates, leading to outbreaks like we are seeing today.”
The letter also notes the first U.S. measles deaths in a decade.
Last week, NMDOH reported an unvaccinated Lea County adult tested positive for measles and died, but the cause of death remains under investigation, health officials said. The fatality followed the Feb. 26 death of a 6-year-old Texas child.
The letter goes on to assert that in order to combat the spread of measles effectively, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “must be operating at its top capacity. In addition to a measles vaccine campaign, the CDC must have the ability to collect and report measles case data on a timely basis, a robust public health workforce to assist in the response, and continue to make recommendations regarding vaccine use through its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.” The senators ask for a response on how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ “plan to help stop the spread of measles” by March 18.
The ongoing outbreak began in Gaines County, Texas, just across the state line from Lea County. Cases in Texas continue to rise, with health officials there reporting 223 cases, mostly in unvaccinated children.
Measles, one of the most contagious diseases in the world, spreads through contact with germs in the air from an infected person’s sneezes and coughs. People can spread infection days before symptoms appear. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash that spreads over the body, but severe complications include pneumonia, brain swelling and even death. Approximately one in five measles cases becomes serious enough to require hospitalization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health officials say two doses of the measles vaccine offers the safest, most effective prevention.
“Really the only thing that can keep you safe from getting infected with measles, if you’re unvaccinated, is to get the vaccine,” said Dr. Melissa Mason, a pediatrician and chair of the immunization committee for the New Mexico Pediatric Society.
Children below the age of 6 months and immunocompromised people cannot get the vaccine.
Mason said the most common vaccination side effects — for both children and adults — include redness, soreness, swelling or a bump at the vaccine site. Children may experience a rash within the first weeks after receiving the vaccine.
“Sometimes kids may have a fever for the first 24 to 48 hours after receiving a vaccine,” she told Source NM. “But, by and large, the very most common side effects of getting that vaccine are either none or mild localized symptoms.
VACCINATION CLINIC INFORMATION
NMDOH requests that any questions about symptoms or vaccines be directed to the helpline at 1-833-796-8773, which is staffed by nurses to provide information in Spanish and English. Further information can be found online.
There are vaccine clinics scheduled at more than a dozen locations in coming days and weeks.
State fairgrounds discussion off BernCo agenda - By Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
A high profile item originally set for Tuesday’s Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners meeting has been removed from the agenda.
Commissioners were due to discuss the formation of a tax increment development district (TIDD) as part of possible updates to the state fairgrounds, but the item was pulled after supporters in the New Mexico Legislature changed direction regarding the funding source for the district.
The bill creating the special district would have authorized up to $1 billion in bonds for public infrastructure within its boundaries, secured by state gross receipts.
The county now awaits a master plan from the State of New Mexico for the 236-acre fairgrounds before proceeding, according to a news release. Once the master plan is completed, county commissioners retain the option to present and approve a TIDD using county funds to support redevelopment efforts at the fairgrounds.
“We want to ensure that any redevelopment at the state fairgrounds reflects the needs and desires of our community,” County Commission Vice Chair Adriann Barboa said. “It’s important that the state’s master plan is completed based on community input for true transparency and an aligned vision for the area before moving forward with a TIDD.”
The state General Services Department is expected to soon issue a request for proposals (RFP) for the creation of the master development plan.
Residents of the areas near the fairgrounds expressed their concerns last month about the future of the state fair at a special public meeting, many saying they don’t want the event moved.
ADVANCE NOTICE
Commissioners will consider some changes to their own meeting rules. A proposal from Chair Eric Olivas would see agendas for regular meetings published five days ahead of time.
Agendas for Tuesday meetings are required by law to be published by the previous Saturday. County officials generally post agendas the previous Friday. Olivas told City Desk ABQ that’s still not good enough.
“That’s not enough time for citizens to read it, much less weigh in,” Olivas said. “That’s barely enough time for commissioners to read it.”
A related proposal from Olivas would require two public hearings before final adoption of a resolution in most cases. Olivas said it bothers him that the commission can hear and pass legislation at the same meeting.
He said his proposal includes a provision that would permit suspension of the rules for a piece of legislation if four commissioners agree. That would allow the commission to move on urgent items, Olivas said.
“It’s a transparency/good government item for me,” Olivas said.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
WHEN: 5 p.m. March 11
WHERE: Ken Sanchez Commission Chambers in BernalilloCounty@Alvarado Square, 415 Silver Ave SW VIRTUAL: GOV-TV, on the county’s website or on Bernalillo County’s YouTube channel
Haaland reports millions in campaign donations in first month - By Andy Lyman, New Mexico Political Report
Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has raised more than $2 million in campaign contributions for her run for governor, according to her campaign.
In a Tuesday press release, Haaland’s campaign said she raised the money from more than 30,000 donors from across the state who donated on average $43 per contribution.
The announcement comes about a week after Haaland finished her statewide campaign announcement tour. According to her campaign she met with thousands of supporters.
“As I traveled the state, it’s clear that New Mexicans are ready to elect someone who has their back and will tackle our challenges head-on,” Haaland said in a statement. “In every position I’ve held, I’ve worked to change the system and I’ll bring that experience to the governor’s office. I’m honored to have widespread and grassroots support of New Mexicans who share my vision for our state.”
Even though the 2026 gubernatorial election is more than a year away and statewide candidates won’t officially become candidates until they file paperwork next spring, early candidates such as Haaland are still required to report spending and contributions each quarter.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham reported more than $12 million dollars in contributions during her second run for the state office in 2022.
Haaland, who represented New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District before former President Joe Biden appointed her to his cabinet, has garnered endorsements from the state’s entire congressional delegation, with the exception of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich. Aside from a long list of local politicians, Haaland also received endorsements from high profile Democratic members of Congress including U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell from California.
U.S. deports three Venezuelans held at Otero County Processing Center - By Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
Content warning: This story discusses suicidal ideation.
The United States last month deported three Venezuelan men who had been held in immigration detention in New Mexico back to their home country after they successfully convinced a federal judge to block their transfer to the notorious military prison at Guantánamo Bay.
Each of the three men fled Venezuela, sought asylum from the U.S. and passed an initial Credible Fear Interview with federal asylum officers by establishing a credible fear of persecution or torture in their home countries. However, they were held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention because of a political dispute between the two countries.
The case began in September 2024 when the men first challenged the legality of their detention at the Otero County Processing center in Chaparral, N.M. with help from the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.
President Donald Trump on Jan. 29 directed the Secretary of Homeland Security and Secretary of Defense to expand the Migrant Operations Center in the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay “to provide additional detention space for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States.”
Following Trump’s orders, the U.S. diverted hundreds of troops to Guantánamo to start setting up a tent city for detained migrants, according to the New York Times.
On Feb. 9, the trio’s attorneys recounted how their clients, upon seeing the news coverage of the first Guantánamo flights, personally recognized several detainees who had also been held at Otero.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Kenneth Gonzales on Feb. 9 blocked the transfer of all three men to Guantánamo, and less than 24 hours later, the U.S. deported them to Venezuela, according to the detained migrants’ attorneys.
The case’s conclusion comes as the New Mexico Legislature debates a proposal to prohibit state agencies and local governments from entering into agreements used to detain people for violations of civil immigration law in Otero and two facilities like it.
All three petitioners on Feb. 14 voluntarily dismissed their case against Otero County Processing Center Warden Dora Castro “in light of their deportation to Venezuela.”
Nonetheless, their attorneys wrote that the damage from their unlawfully prolonged detention remains. Each of them were held for more than a year in total, and “endured dismal conditions in detention that will leave lasting scars on them and their families.”
Detention center officials placed one of the men into solitary confinement in retaliation from a hunger strike in protest of ICE’s plans to deport them to Mexico.
Detention’s emotional and psychological toll led the men to suffer depression, anxiety, loss of appetite and suicidal ideation, the attorneys wrote. One harmed himself and was admitted into a psychiatric facility in January, they wrote.
Their fears and anxiety were made worse in early February when they began to confront the threat that they could be sent to Guantánamo, the attorneys wrote.
“I fear being taken to Guantánamo because the news is painting it as a black hole… I also see that human rights are constantly violated at Guantánamo, so I fear what could happen to me if I get taken there,” said petitioner Abrahan Barrios Morales, in an affidavit attached to the petition.
The company running the migrant detention center at Guantánamo has faced critical audits and a civil rights complaint over conditions at three other facilities it runs in the U.S., according to The Guardian newspaper.
Their flight marked the first deportation flight from the U.S. to Venezuela in over a year, according to the Associated Press. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement El Paso Field Office in March 2024 paused deportation flights to Venezuela, apparently stemming from an oil sanctions dispute.
Attorneys for the trio who were held in Otero wrote in the dismissal notice that with thousands of Venezuelans held in the U.S. awaiting removal, it’s hard to imagine that they would have been put at the front of the line for deportation “if they had not filed this habeas action, and courageously challenged the executive branch’s reprehensible and legally unsupportable decision” to start shipping detained migrants to Guantánamo and holding them there incommunicado.
Another pending case aims to block the removal of 10 other men who are nationals of Venezuela, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, are held in neighboring Arizona and Texas and fear that they’re at risk of being taken to Guantánamo.
Prospects dim for proposed NM liquor tax increase after bill stalls in House committee - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
A proposal to curb problem drinking in New Mexico by increasing the state’s liquor tax rate is facing long odds for approval during this year’s 60-day legislative session.
But backers say they’re not giving up after a bill that would impose a new surtax on the sale of beer, wine and spirits stalled Monday in a House committee on a tie vote.
Rep. Cristina Parajón, D-Albuquerque, one of the bill’s sponsors, said after the vote she’s committed to working on the issue.
“We still have two weeks left in the session,” she told the Journal, citing several other alcohol-related bills that are still pending at the Roundhouse. “There are other options for us still.”
One of the state’s youngest legislators, Parajón also said younger New Mexicans are especially sensitive to pricing for products, saying higher alcohol prices would lead to a drop in drinking in that population.
However, the New Mexico Restaurant Association and numerous local eateries had expressed opposition to House Bill 417, the proposed alcohol tax increase.
Given that opposition, Parajón and other backers of the measure had sought to rework the bill in the lead-up to Monday’s hearing in the House Taxation and Revenue Committee.
Specifically, the new-look legislation would impose a 3% surtax on all alcoholic drinks sold and consumed on site, such as at a restaurant or brewery, while a 6% surtax would be imposed on all other alcohol sales. That surtax would be imposed on top of existing state and local liquor taxes.
Critics of the approach said the revised bill could be difficult for retailers to implement and would contribute to rising consumer costs.
They also questioned the need for tax increases at a time when New Mexico has been riding an ongoing revenue wave prompted by increased oil production.
Two Democrats — Reps. Patricia Lundstrom of Gallup and Doreen Gallegos of Las Cruces — ultimately joined with the committee’s Republican members on Monday in voting to block the measure from advancing.
Lundstrom, the former chairwoman of the House budget committee, pointed out McKinley County already has a 5% local liquor excise tax and said it was unclear how much money the new proposal would generate.
“I don’t think a bill should be considered at this point if we don’t know how much money it is going to raise,” she said.
This year’s bill marks the latest attempt to raise New Mexico’s alcohol tax rate in a state with one of the nation’s highest drunken driving fatality rates.
Under the proposal, the tax dollars raised by the tax hike would be split between a local alcohol treatment fund and a new tribal prevention fund.
New Mexico’s total number of alcohol-related deaths recently declined for two consecutive years, falling from 2,274 such deaths in 2021 to 1,896 alcohol-related deaths in 2023, according to state Department of Health data.
However, New Mexico still had the nation’s highest per capita rate of alcohol-related deaths in 2022, with 42.7 deaths per 100,000 people, per Kaiser Family Foundation data.
University of New Mexico researchers this year projected a 25-cent per drink alcohol tax increase would reduce alcohol consumption by more than 1.7% and could generate $132 million in additional revenue.
“This is one of the most important policies that we can do for public health,” Parajón said, citing a similar tax enacted in Maryland in 2011 that has led to a decrease in alcohol consumption.
Second attorney faces possible suspension for alleged ties to DWI scandal - Colleen Heild, Albuquerque Journal
A second Albuquerque attorney has come under disciplinary scrutiny by the state Supreme Court for his alleged role in a long-running racketeering and bribery conspiracy in which New Mexico law enforcement officers accepted bribes to ensure drunken driving offenders they arrested were never convicted, and in some instances, never formally charged.
The state Supreme Court on Monday filed a notice requiring Albuquerque criminal defense attorney Rudolph B. Chavez to respond by March 17 to a petition asking that he be suspended from the practice of law until further notice of the court.
The petition was filed by Anne L. Taylor, the chief disciplinary counsel for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the New Mexico Supreme Court Disciplinary Board. The board oversees investigations of misconduct by attorneys and the unauthorized practice of law.
Chavez, whose website notes his more than 40 years of practicing law in New Mexico, didn’t return phone calls on Monday.
Chavez has not been criminally charged as part of the federal prosecution, which has so far resulted in guilty pleas from three former Albuquerque police officers and a former Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy. Also pleading guilty were the two leaders of the conspiracy, longtime Albuquerque criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear III, and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez.
After Clear pleaded guilty to five federal charges, including conspiracy, racketeering, bribery and extortion on Feb. 12, the state Supreme Court began proceedings to formally disbar him from the practice of law. On Feb. 28, he agreed that the Supreme Court should disbar him.
The petition states that “upon information and belief,” Chavez is the party identified as a co-conspirator in both Mendez’s plea agreement filing, and that of former Albuquerque DWI officer Honorio Alba Jr.
Alba, who pleaded guilty to racketeering among other federal charges, stated in his plea agreement filed Feb. 7, that he worked “in concert” with Mendez, Clear and “another Albuquerque defense attorney” to ensure a man he arrested in April 2023 avoided criminal and administrative consequences related to his offense.
In that case, the suspect, identified as Z.W. said he knew nothing about any criminal conspiracy and told the Journal, “Rudy Chavez did nothing to make me question his integrity. He never told me anything that didn’t sit well with me.”
Mendez, in his plea agreement, also mentioned the case of Z.W.
The disciplinary counsel petition states that Chavez represented client Zachary Williams in that case and noted that Alba was the arresting officer.
Alba also stated that he relied on “attorney co-conspirators” to handle “any aspect of the scheme and the enterprise that required an attorney present in court or at administrative hearings” such as those conducted by the state Motor Vehicle Department, which oversees driver’s license privileges.
“Given the length and nature of the enterprise and the allegations against (Chavez), as well as the hundreds of dismissed DWI criminal cases as a result of the enterprise, the continued practice of law by (Chavez) will result in the substantial probability of harm, loss or damage to the public,” the petition states.
Chavez, who served as an assistant county attorney from 1989 to 1993, started his own firm in 1993. He practices criminal and civil law. Most recently, Chavez appeared as the lawyer for a suspect arrested Feb. 22 for driving without a license. The suspect’s license was revoked due to a DWI, according to court records.
To date, more than 200 DWI cases have been dismissed because they were filed by the Albuquerque Police Department, State Police and BCSO officers under investigation as part of the FBI’s continuing investigation of the criminal scheme.
Cleanup money for uranium mines and other contaminated sites in budget, for now - By Bella Davis, New Mexico In Depth
New Mexico could soon be cleaning up some of the hundreds of abandoned uranium mines and other contaminated sites around the state and paving the way for continued efforts — if $50 million for that purpose remains in the state budget.
There are at least 302 “orphan sites” in New Mexico, where “known or suspected contamination is causing a threat to human health or the environment,” according to the New Mexico Environment Department. These sites, in addition to about 50 old uranium mines, aren’t eligible for cleanup under any existing programs, and the state can’t identify any responsible parties.
The state would use the funding to begin cleaning up those roughly 350 sites.
In addition to those orphan sites and the 50 or so old uranium mines the state would be targeting, there are another 200 some odd former uranium mines in New Mexico, some in various stages of cleanup. Many of the old mines in the state are on or near tribal lands, and Indigenous communities have advocated for remediation for decades, citing ongoing health and environmental impacts.
Rep. Joseph Hernandez, D-Shiprock, and his family, along with many others in the state, have “gone through numerous doctors appointments, numerous times taking care of our elders who either worked in the industry or are family members of someone” who did, he said last month during a committee hearing. Hernandez recounted stories his mother would tell about his grandfather getting home after long shifts in a nearby mill with uranium dust coating his clothes.
“And this dust today continues to get blown through our communities, not just on Navajo,” Hernandez (Diné) told the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee. “This is communities throughout New Mexico. Many families feel left behind.”
Hernandez and Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, both sponsored bills this year to add in the state budget $50 million for cleaning up contaminated sites, including old uranium mines. That money is now in the $10.8 billion proposed budget the House passed last week.
The funding would be a “drop in the bucket,” Steinborn said in an interview on Friday. The state environment department already has plans for two sites to be remediated, one of which is a uranium mine estimated to cost between $4 and $8 million. The other is a site with chemically contaminated soil and groundwater estimated to cost $5 million to clean up, the agency reported in a bill analysis.
The money would allow the state to “begin to characterize more of the sites, do some cleanup work, and then lay the groundwork for a plan to do much broader efforts,” Steinborn said.
He wants more specifically for uranium cleanup. He’s sponsoring Senate Bill 276, a proposal to put $75 million in the uranium mine reclamation revolving fund.
Since Steinborn was first elected to the Legislature nearly two decades ago, lawmakers have been talking about the need, he said, but weren’t making progress — until 2022. During that session, lawmakers mandated the state develop a strategic plan for cleanup and created the revolving fund.
But the fund has sat empty in the three years since then.
Money deposited in the fund would be used for “site assessments, safeguarding, closure designs, surface reclamation, groundwater remediation, and monitoring, where appropriate,” reads a November presentation state environment department staff gave lawmakers on the interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee.
For some of the abandoned mines, there are owners that the state, including the attorney general, could go after legally, Steinborn said. But some of the companies don’t exist anymore, and some of the mines aren’t eligible for cleanup under any federal programs.
That’s where the state should step in, he said.
With just a few weeks left in the session, Steinborn said he continues to advocate for $75 million for the revolving fund, but “we’re going to have to fight to ensure” $50 million for cleanup of contaminated sites more broadly — which would include abandoned uranium mines but wouldn’t be exclusive to cleanup of those sites — stays in the budget.
The Senate is “having to make budget adjustments and fill some budgetary holes, as it’s been explained, that weren’t addressed in the House,” said Steinborn, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, tasked with reviewing the budget.
“If they’re having to come up with money to fill some holes, a $50 million pot of money sitting there, it could be attractive to some to say, ‘Hey, let’s make that number a little smaller and help fill a hole somewhere else.’ So, it’s going to require continued advocacy and education to preserve that, which I will be doing and others should as well,” he said.
Work requirement grace period nears its end for certain New Mexico SNAP recipients - By Nash Jones, KUNM News
The New Mexico Health Care Authority Monday began sending reminders out to SNAP recipients who are not meeting their work requirement for the food stamp benefits. The federal requirement went into effect for nearly 12,000 New Mexicans at the beginning of the year. With a grace period of three months, people out of compliance risk losing their benefits as soon as the beginning of next month.
The new requirement applies to adults under 54 who don’t have dependents, are physically able to work, and live in Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Eddy, or Los Alamos counties or the pueblos of San Ildefonso, Pojoaque, Santa Clara, or Laguna. According to the department, that’s because those areas did not qualify for a waiver due to their “steadily improving unemployment rates.”
The kind of work that meets the requirement varies, but must be done at least part time for an average of 80 hours a month. It can include paid or unpaid work, attending school, or participating in a work program like the SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) Program.
Exemptions exist for people who are veterans, pregnant, former foster kids under 24, experiencing homelessness, receiving unemployment benefits, or in treatment for substance use.
Either work or an exemption can be reported online through the YES New Mexico website, or by calling or going in person to an Income Support Division office.
SNAP recipients who must work can only miss a total of three months between January of this year and May of next year before losing their benefits. To get them back, a person must meet the work requirements for 30 days or become exempt.
A new storm could spawn tornadoes in the South and whip up a blizzard in northern states - By Jeff Martin, Associated Press
A potent storm system is expected to pour heavy rain on western states later this week before rumbling into the central United States, where it could spawn tornadoes in the South and dump heavy snow across the parts of the Great Plains and Upper Midwest, creating blizzard conditions.
The ominous forecast comes as temperatures hit record highs in parts of the central U.S. after an active few days of weather across the nation. A possible tornado touched down in central Florida on Monday morning, tearing past a local television news station as its meteorologists were live on the air. No injuries were reported.
In Texas, thunderstorms on Saturday toppled semitrailers on Interstate 35 in Texas and flipped over a recreation vehicle at the Texas Motorplex drag racing strip south of Dallas, killing a man inside the RV.
Record temperatures heat up parts of Plains and Midwest
Much of the Midwest got hit by heavy snow and blizzard conditions last week, but the region began this week with springtime temperatures. Readings reached the 60s in many parts of Minnesota on Monday and hit 76 in the western town of Granite Falls by mid-afternoon.
Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska both set records Monday with temperatures in the low 80s (20s Celsius).
Readings in the 60s and low 70s (teens to 20s Celius) were also common across South Dakota.
But dry conditions and high winds raised the wildfire risk over much of the Midwest, with red flag warnings out for most of Nebraska and South Dakota, and parts of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota.
Southern California could get drenched
The system moving in later this week is expected to begin with an atmospheric river soaking Southern California with heavy rain on Thursday, the National Weather Service projects. Atmospheric rivers are plumes of water vapor that form over the ocean and can drop tremendous amounts of moisture over land.
"Snow and wind will spread across the Intermountain West and Rockies Thursday into Friday before rapid development occurs over the Plains," according to the federal Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
Tornadoes take aim at the South
As the system moves east, a regional outbreak of severe thunderstorms is expected over large parts of several southern states beginning Friday and continuing into Saturday, according to the latest forecasts from the federal Storm Prediction Center.
That means a variety of severe weather hazards, from thunderstorms to so-called supercells that can spawn destructive tornadoes.
The worst weather could strike parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee on Friday, then move into Alabama by Saturday, though it was too early to say which areas could be hardest hit.
High winds expected to increase wildfire threat
The threat of wildfires in parts of the Southwest is already high, with forecasts of critical wildfire conditions on Tuesday in the southeastern corner of Arizona and in southern New Mexico. Parts of west Texas also are at risk.
Strong winds that will likely accompany the incoming storm system are likely to add more concerns about wildfires later in the week, especially in the southern Plains, according to the National Weather Service.
Storm strikes Florida TV station
A powerful thunderstorm touched down along Interstate 4 in Seminole County north of Orlando, Florida, downing fences and blowing shingles off roofs, officials said.
The storm passed over local television station Fox 35's studios in Lake Mary as its meteorologists were on the air.
"OK, take shelter. Everybody in the Fox 35 building, get to your safe space under your desk," said Fox 35 meteorologist Brooks Garner. "If you're not in a designated area, we're catching debris right now on the roof. Debris is on the roof right now."
Residents in Arizona, Texas clean up after earlier storms
In Texas, residents were cleaning up storm damage over the weekend.
Strong winds of up to 90 mph (145 kph) ripped the roof off a Days Inn along Interstate 45, and the high winds also damaged homes throughout Ellis County.
The 42-year-old man who died in the RV was identified as T.J. Bailey from Midlothian, Texas. His wife and two sons were inside the RV when it rolled over at the racetrack, Ellis County Justice of the Peace Chris Macon told The Dallas Morning News. Bailey's family members were treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
In northern Arizona, snowstorms late last week led to a more than 15-mile (24-kilometer) backup on Interstate 40, leaving some motorists stranded for hours.
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Associated Press Writer Michael Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed.