Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Albuquerque, NM

July 31, 1989Colfax County, Mora County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at Jul 31, 1989, 4:45 PM MDT for Colfax County, Mora County, New Mexico. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 31, 1989, 4:45 PM MDT (22:45 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1989, 6:45 PM MDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

Counties Colfax County, NM, Mora County, NM

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM (KABQ), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 215 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM at 12:00Z on 1989-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 729 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM at 12:00Z on 1989-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
729 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1061 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KABQ 312246
FFWABQ
NMC007-033-010045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
445 PM MDT MON JUL 31 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO
          ...SOUTHERN COLFAX
IN NORTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
          ...NORTHERN MORA
 
AT 435 PM MDT RADAR AND SATELLITE INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHERN PORTION OF MORA COUNTY AND THE
SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF COLFAX COUNTY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 8 MPH. SATELITTE ESTIMATES INDICATED AN INCH AND A
HALF OF RAIN IN NORTHERN MORA COUNTY DURING THE PAST HOUR.
 
RAPIDLY RISING WATER IS A STRONG POSSIBLITY ON MANY STREAMS AND
NORMALLY DRY ARROYOS IN THIS AREA DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHENR GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 31, 1:43 PM MDT, 3 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ALBUQUERQUE NM
145 PM MDT MON JUL 31 1989

THUNDERSTORMS WITH BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL HAVE BEEN MOVING SLOWLY NORTH-
WARD ALONG THE WEST SLOPES OF THE SANDIA MOUNTAINS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON
...EFFECTING THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA. RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF UP TO A THIRD OF AN INCH IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES HAVE BEEN
REPORTED IN THE 4 HILLS SECTION OF THE CITY.

THE WINDS ALOFT OVER NEW MEXICO ARE QUITE LIGHT SO THE STORMS ARE MOVING
VERY SLOWLY. ADDITIONAL STORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TO DRIFT NORTHWARD
ACROSS PARTS OF THE CITY THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING
WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO REMAIN ALERT TO THE
POSSIBILITY OF FAST RISING WATER IN DRAINAGE DITCHES AND NORMALLY DRY
ARROYOS. REMEMBER...THE WATER CAN RISE RAPIDLY FROM UPSTREAM RAINS...
EVEN IF IT ISN'T RAINING AT YOUR LOCATION.

KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM ARROYOS. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH
WATER COVERED ARROYO CROSSINGS WHERE YOU COULD STALL AND BECOME TRAPPED.

MJF
Special weather statement, Jul 31, 2:09 PM MDT, 2 hours 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ALBUQUERQUE NM
209 PM MDT MON JUL 31 1989

AT AROUND 200 PM MDT AN OBSERVER AT STAR LAKE IN EXTREME EASTERN MCKIN-
LEY COUNTY REPORTED 1.67 INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN DURING THE PREVIOUS
30 MINUTES AND RAIN WAS STILL FALLING. RAINS IN THIS AREA WILL RUN OFF
INTO THE RIO PUERCO DRAINAGE OF NORTHERN SANDOVAL COUNTY AND MOVE
SOUTHWARD.

RESIDENTS OF EXTREME EASTERN MCKINLEY COUNTY AND WESTERN SANDOVAL COUNTY
ARE URGED TO REMAIN ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF FAST RISING WATER IN
THE RIO PUERCO DRAINAGE AND NORMALLY DRY ARROYOS WHICH RUN OFF INTO THE
RIO PUERCO. REMEMBER...THE WATER CAN RISE RAPIDLY FROM UPSTREAM RAINS...
EVEN IF IT ISN'T RAINING "AT YOUR LOCATION.

KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM ARROYOS AND STREAMBEDS. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE
THROUGH WATER COVERED CROSSINGS WHERE YOU COULD BECOME TRAPPED BY RISING
WATER.

MJF

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1989Every flash flood warning in 1989

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.