Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1991

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Albuquerque, NM

May 21, 1991Bernalillo County, Sandoval County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at May 21, 1991, 3:31 PM MDT for Bernalillo County, Sandoval County, New Mexico. It was in force for 89 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 21, 1991, 3:31 PM MDT (21:31 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1991, 5:00 PM MDT
In force
89 min
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bernalillo County, NM, Sandoval County, NM

The nearest sounding before it

Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM (KABQ), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 39 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 1991-05-21Temperature 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 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 1991-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 96 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1185 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
141 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 212136
FFWABQ
NMC001-043-212300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
331 PM MDT TUE MAY 21 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE...
 
IN CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
 
   ...BERNALILLO COUNTY...SOUTHEASTERN SANDOVAL COUNTY
 
AT 325 PM MDT...RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN
OVER PARTS OF EASTERN BERNALILLO AND SANDOVAL COUNTIES. THESE STORMS
WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
ADDITIONAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE SOUTH OF ALBUQUERQUE.  THESE
STORMS WERE ALSO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH...AND WERE EXPECTED TO
MOVE ACROSS THE ALBUQUERQUE AREA BETWEEN NOW AND 500 PM.
 
HEAVY RAIN AND SOME FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED IN BERNALILLO COUNTY.
ALL CHANNELS HAVE RUNNING WATER...AND THE SOUTH PINO ARROYO AT
JEFFERSON STREET HAS FLOODED. MORE FLOODING IS EXPECTED AS THE
HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES.
 
MOST DE^ATHS IN FLASH FLOODING 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.

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, May 21, 1:41 PM MDT, 1 hour 50 minutes before
NMZALL-212030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
135 PM MDT TUE MAY 21 1991

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR THE ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA...

AT 130 PM MDT...STRONG THUDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE MOVING
OVER THE ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WERE EXTENDING SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST OF THE CITY. THUNDERSTORMS WITH
HEAVY RAIN WERE ALSO NOTED SOUTH OF TUCUMCARI...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
WERE ALSO NOTED OVER FARMINGTON. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WERE OVER THE NORTHERN TWO-THIRDS OF THE STATE AND WERE GENERALLY MOVING
TO THE NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 21, 2:40 PM MDT, 51 minutes before
NMZALL-212030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
235 PM MDT TUE MAY 21 1991

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR THE ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA UNTIL 315 PM...

AT 230 PM MDT...SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS RAIN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WERE OVER ALL AREAS OF THE STATE EXCEPT THE SOUTHWEST VALLEYS. THUNDER-
STORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE 45 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF BELEN. HEAVY
RAIN CONTINUED IN THE ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA. THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY
RAIN WERE SOUTHWEST OF TUCUMCARI...NORTH OF LAS CRUCES...SOUTH OF GRANTS
AND EAST OF FARMINGTON. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

IN FAR WEST TEXAS...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL WERE WEST
A-ND SOUTHWEST OF EL PASO. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

IN COLORADO...THUNDERSTORMS WITH ISOLATED HEAVY RAIN WERE SOUTHWEST OF
CORTEZ. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 3:13 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQBernalillo2 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1991Every flash flood warning in 1991

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.