Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 9, NWS Albuquerque, NM

August 12, 1990Colfax County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at Aug 12, 1990, 4:12 PM MDT for Colfax County, New Mexico. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 12, 1990, 4:12 PM MDT (22:12 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1990, 6:15 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, 10.2 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 1990-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 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 122215
FFWABQ
NMC007-130015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
412 PM MDT SUN AUG 12 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE...
 
IN NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...SOUTHERN COLFAX COUNTY
 
 
THE STATE POLICE IN LAS VEGAS, NEW MEXICO REPORTS FLOODING OF ROADWAYS
TO THE WEST OF SPRINGER IN THE TOWN OF MIAMI ALONG STATE ROUTE 21.
RADAR REPORTS OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THIS AREA COULD CAUSE
SIMILAR FLASH FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
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 12, 3:36 PM MDT, 36 minutes before
NMZALL-082345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ALBUQUERQUE NM
335 PM MDT SUN AUG 12 1990

WEATHER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING OVER PARTS OF NEW
MEXICO.  SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS WERE NEAR SPRINGER AND CLINES
CORNERS.

UPPER AIR WINDS A LIGHT...SO THIS AFTERNOON`S THUNDERSTORMS WILL
BE MOVING VERY SLOWLY.

THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND EVEN SOME HAIL.  PEOPLE...ESPECIALLY THOSE IN
NORTHEAST AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO...SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING.

LV

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 3:49 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQBernalillo, Santa Fe, Torrance116 min
Aug 12, 3:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQBernalillo, Santa Fe, Torrance86 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.