Flash Flood — Bernalillo, New Mexico

2021-07-20 · near Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico

Event narrative

A thunderstorm with heavy rain rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour resulted in flash flooding across eastern portions of Albuquerque. Several reports of flooded roadways and yards in the Albuquerque foothills was received. The rainfall also quickly filled up in city's arroyos, and three people within the arroyos were swept away. Emergency crews performed water rescues for the three individuals for several hours on July 20th, but rescue efforts were not successful. Unfortunately, emergency personnel recovered the bodies of two adult men on July 21st in the diversion channel washout area, and the body of a third adult man was recovered on July 22nd. A spokesperson for Albuquerque Fire remarked that this was the deadliest flooding event in Albuquerque in recent memory.

Wider weather episode

It was another active monsoon day across northern and central New Mexico on July 20, 2021. With an area of high pressure centered over the Four Corners and high amounts of atmospheric moisture across western and central New Mexico, thunderstorms developed by late morning across the mountainous terrain. With the upper-level high pressure's location, thunderstorms moved in a southerly direction and expanded in coverage across lower elevations. These thunderstorms produced very heavy rainfall, and several reports of flash flooding were received across urban areas. The most significant flash flooding occurred in Albuquerque where rainfall rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour quickly filled the city's arroyos. Three water rescues had to be conducted in Albuquerque due to people in the arroyos, but unfortunately, rescue efforts were not successful.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.1915, -106.5894)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 961309. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.