Flash Flood — Lincoln, New Mexico

2025-07-14 · near Ruidoso, Lincoln, New Mexico

Event narrative

Heavy rain from thunderstorms over the South Fork burn scar resulted in some minor water rises in the Rio Ruidoso with some water coming off the Upper Canyon and putting debris over Main Road by main bridge 2. Some debris on Cedar Creek Drive at Musket Ball Drive and near Mechem Drive resulted in a brief closure of the road to allow for crews to clean up the roadway.

Wider weather episode

Daytime heating resulted in the development of showers and thunderstorms across the higher terrain, including the Sacramento Mountains, Storms over the Sacramento Mountains built north over Ruidoso and the South Fork burn scar early afternoon with rainfall amounts of around 0.5 to 1 inch in 20 minutes over the burn scar. This resulted in some flash flooding and minor debris flows on neighbor roadways in and around the burn scar, leading to some brief closures. Storms moved west of the burn scar and Sacramento Mountains shortly afterwards with any closed roads reopened by the mid afternoon. Elsewhere, an evening thunderstorm brought a brief 58 mph wind gust to the mesonet station at I-25 at Rowe.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.3348, -105.7261)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1263135. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.