Flash Flood — Taos, New Mexico

2018-08-09 · near Carson, Taos, New Mexico

Event narrative

NM-567 closed due to flash flooding near Carson.

Wider weather episode

The center of upper level high pressure shifted farther west into Arizona on August 9th and allowed weaker steering flow to become more north to south across New Mexico. Deep moisture and strong instability over the state allowed numerous showers and thunderstorms to develop over the higher terrain during the early afternoon before spreading into nearby highlands and valleys through the evening. A powerful thunderstorm near Eagle Nest produced a rare landspout tornado that moved into Eagle Nest Lake while dissipating as a spectacular waterspout around 230 pm. Thunderstorms that moved off the higher terrain onto the Interstate 25 corridor produced large hail in San Miguel and Colfax counties. Very heavy rainfall near Pilar resulted in a flash flood that closed NM-567 for four days. An impressive 75 mph wind gust was reported at Gallup from thunderstorm outflow winds. Thunderstorms around the Edgewood area also resulted in accumulations of nickel size hail.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.3667, -105.7311)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 764826. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.