Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Albuquerque, NM

August 4, 1990Colfax County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at Aug 4, 1990, 3:44 PM MDT for Colfax County, New Mexico. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 4, 1990, 3:44 PM MDT (21:44 UTC)
Expired
Aug 4, 1990, 5:45 PM MDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

County Colfax 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, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 247 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 1990-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 37 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 1990-08-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -38 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
37 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-201 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2179 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 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 042145
FFWABQ
NMC007-042345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
344 PM MDT SAT AUG 4 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE...
 
IN NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...COLFAX COUNTY
 
FLASH FLOODING WAS REPORTED AT SPRINGER NEW MEXICO AT 330 PM MDT.
THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING MORE FLASH FLOODING WERE OVER
INTERSTATE 25 FROM SPRINGER TO RATON PASS AS WELL AS OVER THE
EASTERN FOOTHILLS OF THE SANGRE DE CRISTO RANGE IN COLFAX COUNTY.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOW LITTLE MOVEMNT AND ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
TWO INCHES OF RAIN IN AN HOUR.
 
RESIDENTS OF SPRINGER...MAXWELL...RATON...CIMARRON...AND THE
PHILMONT SCOUT RANCH SHOULD MOVE AWAY FROM AREAS PRONE TO FLASH
FLOODING.
 
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 4, 2:32 PM MDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
NMZALL-042300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ALBUQUERQUE NM
230 PM MDT SAT AUG 4 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH BRIEF HEAVY RAINS OVER THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE MOUNTAINS..THE RIO
GRANDE VALLEY AND THE SOUTHEASTERN PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON.  THE AIRMASS
OVER THE STATE IS VERY MOIST AND WITH WINDS ALOFT ARE LIGHT.  SINCE
THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE RATHER SLOWLY THEY COULD
PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AND RAPID FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS..
ESPICALLY ARROYOS AND UNDERPASSES.

DURING THE PAST HOUR...AN OBSERVER NEAR MENAUL AND TRAMWAY REPORTED
A HALF INCH OF RAIN IN ABOUT 45 MINUTES WHILE IN THE FOUR HILLS AREA
0.30 INCHES HAD FALLEN IN ABOUT 25 MINUTES.  THE ARROYOS IN THE FOUR
HILLS AREA WERE REPORTED TO FLOWING RAPIDLY.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN PLAINS WERE ALSO PRODUCING
STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAINS IN THE HOBBS AREA.

PERSONS TRAVELING IN NEW MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO
WEATHER CONDITIONS.   DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS ROADWAYS
AND NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM OR ARROYOS...EVEN A SMALL ONE...
ON FOOT.

EBM

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.