Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 19, NWS Albuquerque, NM

August 4, 1997Torrance County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at Aug 4, 1997, 5:19 PM MDT for Torrance 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
Aug 4, 1997, 5:19 PM MDT (23:19 UTC)
Expired
Aug 4, 1997, 7:50 PM MDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

County Torrance County, NM

The nearest sounding before it

Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM (KABQ), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 82 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 1997-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 152 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 1997-08-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 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
152 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-95 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1103 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 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 042318
FFWABQ
NMC057-050150-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
519 PM MDT MON AUG 4 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL NEW MEXICO

   ...NORTHWESTERN TORRANCE COUNTY

THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN WERE NEARLY STATIONARY OVER
NORTHWESTERN TORRANCE COUNTY.  RAINFALL OF OVER TWO INCHES IS LIKELY
TO HAVE ACCUMULATED IN SOME LOCATIONS ESPECIALLY BETWEEN TORREON AND
MORIARTY.
 
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
SAFE<LY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.  REMEMBER THAT WATER MAY CONTINUE TO FLOW IN
ARROYOS AND ACROSS LOW WATER CROSSINGS SEVERAL MILES FROM AND
SEVERAL HOURS AFTER HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED.

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, 3:32 PM MDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
NMZ005-011-012-050130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
332 PM MDT MON AUG 4 1997

HEAVY RAINS THIS AFTERNOON BETWEEN GLORIETTA AND LAS VEGAS PRODUCED
RAPID RISES IN ARROYOS AND STREAMS AS WELL AS THE PECOS RIVER.
STORMS WERE STILL IN THE GENERAL AREA AT 325 PM.  LOCATIONS
DOWNSTREAM ALONG THE PECOS RIVER AS FAR AS GUADALUPE COUNTY COULD
EXPERIENCE TEMPORARY RISES IN THE PECOS RIVER THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
EVENING.

MOTORISTS SHOULD EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN APPROACHING AREAS
WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.  REMEMBER THAT RAIN RUNOFF CAN POSE
PROBLEMS EVEN AFTER RAIN HAS ENDED...AND CAN FLOW MANY MILES AND
TRAVEL SEVERAL HOURS FROM ITS POINT OF ORIGIN.

GDC
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 3:34 PM MDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
NMZ005-011-012-050130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
332 PM MDT MON AUG 4 1997

HEAVY RAINS THIS AFTERNOON BETWEEN GLORIETTA AND LAS VEGAS PRODUCED
RAPID RISES IN ARROYOS AND STREAMS AS WELL AS THE PECOS RIVER.
STORMS WERE STILL IN THE GENERAL AREA AT 325 PM.  LOCATIONS
DOWNSTREAM ALONG THE PECOS RIVER AS FAR AS GUADALUPE COUNTY COULD
EXPERIENCE TEMPORARY RISES IN THE PECOS RIVER THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
EVENING.

MOTORISTS SHOULD EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN APPROACHING AREAS
WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.  REMEMBER THAT RAIN RUNOFF CAN POSE
PROBLEMS EVEN AFTER RAIN HAS ENDED...AND CAN FLOW MANY MILES AND
TRAVEL SEVERAL HOURS FROM ITS POINT OF ORIGIN.

GDC

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997

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.