Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 64, NWS Albuquerque, NM

September 12, 1996Chaves County, Lincoln County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at Sep 12, 1996, 7:25 AM MDT for Chaves County, Lincoln County, New Mexico. It was in force for 12 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 12, 1996, 7:25 AM MDT (13:25 UTC)
Expired
Sep 12, 1996, 7:25 PM MDT
In force
12 hr
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

Counties Chaves County, NM, Lincoln County, NM

The radar

The Holloman AFB radar (KHDX), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:25 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM (KABQ), launched 12:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 224 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 1996-09-12Temperature 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 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 1996-09-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -37 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1071 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-52 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 121328
FFWABQ
NMC005-027-130125-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
725 AM MDT THU SEP 12 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 725 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

   ...WESTERN CHAVES COUNTY

IN CENTRAL NEW MEXICO

   ...EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY
 
AT 700 AM THE PUBLIC REPORTED THAT THE RIO HONDO WAS OUT OF
ITS BANK AT PICACHO.  THEY ESTIMATED A STAGE OF 30 FEET WITH
THE FLOOD STATE OF 7 FEET.  THIS WATER WILL MOVE DOWNSTREAM
TO TWO RIVER RESERVOIR BY THIS AFTERNOON.

PERSONS ALONG THE RIO HONDO DOWNSTREAM OF PICACHO ALONG HIGHWAY
70 AND IN THE COMMINITY OF SUNSET SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY RISING
WATERS AND WATER OVER ROADWAYS.

A FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT.
MOST 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, Sep 12, 5:37 AM MDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
NMZ001>032-121900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
530 AM MDT THU SEP 12 1996

...MORE RAIN ON THE WAY...

GENEROUS AMOUNTS OF TROPICAL MOISTURE HAVE CONTINUED STREAMING
NORTHWARD INTO NEW MEXICO DURING THE NIGHT. AT 530 AM SHOWERS
AND A FEW EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS LINGERED ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN
AND EASTERN NEW MEXICO.

NEW MEXICO CAN EXPECT ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
LATER TODAY...WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS LIKELY AGAIN. MANY AREAS WHICH
ALREADY RECEIVED GOOD RAINS WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT CAN EXPECT
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL TODAY AND TONIGHT.  A FLASH FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN
ISSUED FOR THE MUCH OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN FROM THE
SANDIA/MANZANO MOUNTAINS SOUTHWARD...INCLUDING THE SACRAMENTO
MOUNTAINS.

STREAMS AND ARROYOS MANY MILES DOWNSTREAM MAY BE RUNNING RAPIDLY OR
EXPERIENCING RAPID RISES OF WATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. ADDITIONAL
WATCHES OR WARNINGS MAY BE NECESSARY LATER TODAY AS THE WEATHER
SITUATION DEVELOPS AND CONDITIONS CHANGE.

SOME DRIER AIR MAY BEGIN TO SPREAD INTO NEW MEXICO FROM THE WEST ON
FRIDAY...BUT EASTERN NEW MEXICO WILL CONTINUE TO BE WET. LONGER RANGE
CHARTS SHOW DRIER WESTERLY WINDS REACHING THE ^EASTERN BORDER BY
SUNDAY...THEREFORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DECREASE IN
NUMBER STATEWIDE BY LATE IN THE WEEKEND.

HIGH TEMPERATURES WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON VARIED FROM 87 DEGREES AT
LORDSBURG TO A RAIN COOLED 58 DEGREES AT CLOUDCROFT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 11, 8:55 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQGuadalupe, San Miguel, Torrance3 hr
Sep 11, 9:46 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQLincoln4 hr
Sep 12, 1:50 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQLincoln3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1996Every flash flood warning in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.