Flash Flood — Mora, New Mexico

2024-07-22 · near Guadalupita, Mora, New Mexico

Event narrative

NM DOT reported flooding on mile marker 7 along NM 434 which prompted a road closure and the deployment of a cleanup crew to clear rocks and debris.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.1149, -105.2274)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1185452. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.