Flash Flood — Lincoln, New Mexico

2025-06-26 · near Ruidoso, Lincoln, New Mexico

Event narrative

Burn scar flash flooding off the South Fork and Salt burn scars that ran along the Rio Ruidoso from the Upper Canyon down to Hollywood. High water was reported over multiple roadways along the Rio Ruidoso, notably along Ebarb Dr. and Johnson Rd., Mechem Dr., Main Bridge 2, N. Grindstone Canyon Rd., Country Club Dr., Gavilan Canyon Rd., Eagle Dr. Bridge, Sudderth Drive. The McDaniel Bridge in the Upper Canyon area, a small water crossing, was destroyed. Damage is an estimate based on washed out culverts and the destroyed McDaniel Bridge.

Wider weather episode

Despite a relative downtick in monsoon moisture over the weekend, slow storm motions of thunderstorms developing near or directly over the Ruidoso area burn scars resulted in flash flooding on June 26th and 28th. Swift moving water was reported to run down the Rio Ruidoso on the 26th, destroyed one small bridge crossing in the Upper Canyon area. Similar burn scar flash flooding resulted in the closure of the bridge at Main Road and Fox Drive on the 28th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.3411, -105.7259)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1258702. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.