Flash Flood — Catron, New Mexico

2013-07-26 · near Alma, Catron, New Mexico

Event narrative

Photos received by local district ranger showed flooding across the Whitewater-Baldy burn scar in Deer Park, Little Whitewater, and Whitewater Creeks.

Wider weather episode

Isolated thunderstorms developed just north of the Whitewater-Baldy burn scar during the early afternoon and within an hour, isolated strong thunderstorms were directly over the burn scar that caused flooding in local creeks. Similarly, isolated strong storms developed in north central NM over a second burn scar where flooding was also observed during the evening hours. Later in the day, a large complex of strong thunderstorms organized over north central New Mexico then slowly pushed south along the entire Rio Grande Valley into the Big Bend region of Texas. As this storm complex pushed into the Albuquerque Metro Area, a severe downburst wind measuring a historical 89mph at the Sunport surged out ahead of the storm and produced extensive damage and flash flooding to many areas along and south of Interstate 40. Several outdoor events were severely impacted, including an Albuquerque Isotopes baseball game, Summer Fest at the BioPark Zoo, and a concert at the Isleta Ampitheater. Downed tree branches and uprooted trees created extensive power outages leaving more than 25,000 customers without power. Interstate 25 was closed between the Big I and Rio Bravo Boulevard for nearly 12 hours as downed power lines and power poles were repaired along several access ramps. Flash flooding with these thunderstorms stranded several motorists in several feet of water across downtown Albuquerque and in many other areas of town. This complex of storms continued to produce flash flooding as it moved south through Los Lunas, Belen, and much of Socorro County. Flooding at a waste water treatment facility in Belen prompted a state of emergency.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.3926, -108.8553)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 456608. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.