Flash Flood — El Paso, Texas

2021-08-12 · near El Paso, El Paso, Texas

Event narrative

Flash flooding occurred across central El Paso with a torrent of water flowing down the mountainside near Fort Blvd and Louisiana St. There was also significant water flow down Nashville St where two deaths were reported as a wall collapsed in the basement of a house and trapped a 2 year old and her 65 year old grandmother. Atlas Avenue just north of Chapin High School also had the road buckle with slabs of pavement missing. A rainfall report at the Wyler Tramway reported 4.65 of rain in a couple of hours which caused the flash flooding.

Wider weather episode

A surface low was setup over New Mexico with a weak easterly wave moving through the Borderland similar to a setup from August 1st, 2006. Deep moisture was in place around the area and storms were slow moving which allowed for very heavy rain to occur. Some parts of El Paso received over 4 inches of rain in a short period of time creating significant flash flooding which included two deaths in the east side of the Franklin Mountains.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.7962, -106.4570)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 983514. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.