Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Albuquerque, NM

August 22, 1990Torrance County, Valencia County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at Aug 22, 1990, 3:49 PM MDT for Torrance County, Valencia County, New Mexico. It was in force for 56 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 22, 1990, 3:49 PM MDT (21:49 UTC)
Expired
Aug 22, 1990, 4:45 PM MDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

Counties Torrance County, NM, Valencia 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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 48 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 1990-08-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 164 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 1990-08-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -20 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
164 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-92 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1271 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 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 222152 COR
FFWABQ
NMC057-061-222245-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...CORRECTED FOR TIME...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
349 PM MDT WED AUG 22 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE...

IN CENTRAL NEW MEXICO

   ...WEST CENTRAL TORRANCE COUNTY...VALENCIA COUNTY

AT 345 PM MDT...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY
HEAVY RAINS EXTENDED FROM 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALBUQUERQUE
THROUGH BELEN TO THE MANZANO MOUNTAINS IN TORRANCE COUNTY.
THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS 10 TO 15 MILES WIDE AND IS MOVING
NORTH AT 5 TO 10 MPH.

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 HIGHER 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, Aug 22, 2:20 PM MDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
NMC001-057-222200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ALBUQUERQUE NM
220 PM MDT WED AUG 22 1990

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING THROUGH TORRANCE COUNTY
AND EXTREME EASTERN BERNALILLO COUNTY UNTIL 400 PM MDT.

SOME OF THE AFFECTED COMMUNITIES WILL BE ESCOBOSA...TIJERAS...
CEDAR CREST...SANDIA PARK...EDGEWOOD...MORIARTY...MCINTOSH...
ESTANCIA...MANZANO...PUNTA DE AGUA...MOUNTAINAIR...WILLARD...
AND CEDARVALE.

LOCAL RAINS BETWEEN A HALF INCH AND ONE-AND-ONE-HALF INCHES...
PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH WILL
ACCOMPANY THE THUNDERSTORMS.  RAPID RISES OF WATER LEVELS
IN SMALL STREAMS AND ARROYOS WILL OCCUR UNTIL 400 PM.

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BED ISSUED IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.
Special weather statement, Aug 22, 2:58 PM MDT, 51 minutes before
NMZ013-222200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROSWELL NM
258 PM MDT WED AUG 22 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...

AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM 15 MILES SOUTH OF THE ROSWELL AIRPORT..
WEST TO THE MOUNTAIN CHAIN..THEN NORTHEAST TO ABOUT 40 MILES NORTH-
WEST OF ROSWELL HAS DEVELOPED SINCE 200 MDT THIS AFTERNOON.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN..STRONG
GUSTY WINDS..AND POSSIcBLY HAIL.

THE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15
MILES AN HOUR.

BATEMAN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Albuquerque, NM issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 22, 4:45 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQTorrance, Valencia60 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

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.