Flash Flood in Grant County, New Mexico

Numerous roads were closed along and near Highway 180 in Silver City due to flash flooding. Other cities affected by the flooding included Santa Clara around Twin Sisters Peak Road and numerous roads around Bayard and Hurley. Rainfall amounts around this area averaged 1 to 2 inches in a couple of hours with a maximum of 4.50 inches in Bayard.

A broad area of high pressure was located through the central part of the country with easterly winds tapping low level moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Upper level moisture was tapped from an upper low moving out of the Baja region. These two features combined to create unusually high amounts of moisture in the atmosphere for early November and resulted in some localized rainfall amounts over 4 inches in Grant County which resulted in flash flooding. A few severe storms were also able to develop in the afternoon and evening which produced hail up to 2 inches in diameter.