Flash Flood in Roosevelt County, New Mexico

Heavy rain from thunderstorms resulted in flash flooding with a depth of 6 inches across parts of Portales. Locations included U.S. 70 and Kilgore Road in northeast Portales and 18th Street near downtown Portales. No reports of any damage from flooding.

The monsoon high over northern Arizona on July 19th continued backing west to over the Great Basin July 20th and 21st in response to upper level troughing over the central U.S. The upper level trough over the central U.S. helped bring a backdoor front through eastern NM early on July 20th. In between the two synoptic features, upper level disturbances travelled south through New Mexico. This resulted in a greater coverage of afternoon and evening showers and storms over the region both days with activity slowly waning overnight. Storms over the South Fork burn scar brought another round of flash flooding to the Ruidoso area Saturday afternoon with the Rio Ruidoso rising to a record level of 15.39 feet July 20th. Flash flooding was reported from storms in Portales mid Sunday afternoon. Another round of flash flooding occurred in Ruidoso Sunday night from storms moving south through the area. Daytime heating on Monday resulted in another crop of showers and storms mainly across the higher terrain Monday afternoon and evening moving south with time. Storms produced some flash flooding on the northeast part of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon burn scar and a peak wind gust of 62 mph on the White Sands Missile Range near Oscuro.