Flood in Socorro County, New Mexico

The initial round of intense rainfall on the 10th and 11th flooded numerous roadways and homes then subsequent heavy rainfall through the 15th created extreme flooding. County emergency management indicated a total of at least 16 roads were washed out and damaged severely across the county, including NM 408 and CR 91 between Escondida and Lemitar, and NM 1 between San Antonio and Luis Lopez. The Rio Puerco and Rio Grande rivers both flooded into nearby low lying areas and threatened nearby communities. A breach in a levee on the Rio Puerco flooded several homes and the community of San Francisco was evacuated. The US 380 bridge east of San Antonio was overtopped. US 60 was closed at mile marker 166.

A stationary upper level low pressure system that settled into the Great Basin around the 10th provided a steady stream of near record subtropical atmospheric moisture over New Mexico. At least 4 back-to-back upper level disturbances pushed north and east across the region and interacted with the monsoon moisture plume through the 14th to produce widespread historic rainfall amounts. Significant flooding impacted the state as rainfall amounts over this 5-day period averaged 3 to 6 inches and in some areas just over 10 inches. Several river gauges reported record to near record crests and in a couple cases gauges were completely destroyed. Emergency management reported disastrous impacts to residential, commercial, and transportation infrastructure. A total of 14 counties, 4 cities and towns, 5 pueblos, and the Navajo Nation were included in a statewide and Presidential disaster declaration. The New Mexico State EOC was staffed at Level 2 operations for several days. Damages from this widespread historic rainfall event for northern and central New Mexico likely exceeded 10 million dollars.