Flash Flood — Socorro, New Mexico

2021-09-05 · near Dusty, Socorro, New Mexico

Event narrative

Heavy rain flooded portions of New Mexico State Road 52 which rendered the roadway impassable. The New Mexico Department of Transportation was forced to close to roadway for several hours as a result. The extent of damages is unknown.

Wider weather episode

As an area of high pressure continued to strengthen over the Great Basin area on September 5, 2021, drier air continued to filter into the state from the north which further limited storm coverage across the area. However, deeper moisture continued to reside across southern New Mexico which allowed for another round of afternoon thunderstorms. A few of these thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall while steering flow moved these thunderstorms in a general south to southwest direction. With slow steering flow, this only added to the flash flooding risk. The heaviest rainfall was reported in southern Catron and Socorro counties, and flash flooding was reported in the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument where a few visitors to the park were stranded.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.8603, -107.7124)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 971658. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.