Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS El Paso, TX

June 29, 1996Sierra County, New Mexico

NWS El Paso, TX issued this flash flood warning at Jun 29, 1996, 4:13 AM MDT for Sierra County, New Mexico. It was in force for 3 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
Jun 29, 1996, 4:13 AM MDT (10:13 UTC)
Expired
Jun 29, 1996, 7:15 AM MDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS El Paso, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Sierra County, NM

The radar

The Holloman AFB radar (KHDX), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:16 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

Santa Teresa, NM (KEPZ), launched 00:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Santa Teresa, NM at 00:00Z on 1996-06-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1009 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, Santa Teresa, NM at 00:00Z on 1996-06-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 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
1009 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1638 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 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 KELP 291013
FFWELP
NMC051-291315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX
413 AM MDT SAT JUN 29 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EL PASO HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 AM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO
 
   ...NORTH CENTRAL SIERRA COUNTY
 
DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL WERE
LOCATED IN NORTH CENTRAL SIERRA COUNTY. HEAVIEST RAINFALL AMOUNTS WERE
LOCATED NEAR ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE WHERE SOME FLOODING HAS ALREADY
OCCURRED. RAINFALL ESTIMATES OF OVER AN INCH AN HOUR ARE EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE IN THE AREA.
 
CONTINUED FLOODING WILL BE LIKELY UNTIL 7AM.
 
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 SMALbL
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, Jun 29, 2:43 AM MDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
NMZ023-290945-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX
243 AM MDT SAT JUN 29 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING THROUGH WESTERN SIERRA COUNTY...

AT 230 AM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS
LOCATED IN WESTERN SIERRA COUNTY EXTENDING FROM WINSTON EASTWARD
TO TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 15 TO 20 MPH.

THIS STORM WAS PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL WITH SOME STREET FLOODING
REPORTED IN TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES. THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL AND PERIODS OF
HEAVY RAINFALL. HEAVY RAINFALL CAN PRODUCE PONDING OF WATER ON
STREETS AT INTERSECTIONS AND DIPS IN ROADS. NORMALLY DRY STREAMS AND
ARROYOS MAY QUICKLY HAVE SWIFT RUNNING WATER IN THEM. AVOID LOW
LYING AREAS. IF WATER RISES MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS El Paso, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 29, 3:19 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningEPZSierra56 min

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.