Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 31, NWS Albuquerque, NM

August 18, 1997De Baca County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at Aug 18, 1997, 4:30 AM MDT for De Baca County, New Mexico. It was in force for 2 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 18, 1997, 4:30 AM MDT (10:30 UTC)
Expired: Aug 18, 1997, 6:30 AM MDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area: Whole counties

County De Baca County, NM

The nearest sounding before it

Albuquerq/Krtlnd, NM (KABQ), launched 00:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 215 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 46 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 3407 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 38 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 181030
FFWABQ
NMC011-181230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
430 AM MDT MON AUG 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 AM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
 
   ...DE BACA COUNTY
 
AT 430 AM MDT MODERATE RAINS WERE STILL OCCURRING OVER PORTIONS OF DE
BACA COUNTY WITH RADAR INDICATING AN AREA OF LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN
SHOWERS STILL MOVING IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST. LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS
REPORTED WATER STILL FLOWING ACROSS THE ROADWAY AT MANY LOW WATER
CROSSINGS. DESPITE THE FACT THAT RAINS WERE TAPERING OFF OVER DE BACA
COUNTY DURING THE PREDAWN HOURS...THE SITUATION REMAINS DANGEROUS WITH
CONTINUED FLOODING OF LOW SPOTS...NORMALLY DRY STREAMBEDS...UNDERPASSES
AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS LIKELY UNTIL AROUND SUNRISE AT LEAST. THEREFORE
THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR DE BACA COUNTY HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 630
AM MDT.
 
REMEMBER...MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW WATER CROSSINGS IF WATER
COVERS THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A
SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
DO NOT DRIVE AROUND BARRICADES.

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

Local storm report, Aug 18, 12:35 AM MDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO
1235 AM MDT MON AUG 18 1997

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1115 PM    ROSWELL                   NM   TORNADO
08/17/97   CHAVES                         *** 1 INJ ***
                                          2 MOBILE HOMES
                                          DESTROYED...HOME
                                          DEMOLISHED...ROOF BLOWN
                                          OFF...1 MINOR INJ.

Local storm report, Aug 18, 12:36 AM MDT, 3 hours 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO
1235 AM MDT MON AUG 18 1997

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1115 PM    ROSWELL                   NM   TORNADO
08/17/97   CHAVES                         *** 1 INJ ***
                                          2 MOBILE HOMES
                                          DESTROYED...HOME
                                          DEMOLISHED...ROOF BLOWN
                                          OFF...1 MINOR INJ.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 17, 10:50 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	Chaves	70 min
Aug 17, 11:35 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	ABQ	Chaves	55 min
Aug 18, 12:00 AM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	Lincoln	2 hr
Aug 18, 12:23 AM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	De Baca	2 hr
Aug 18, 12:23 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABQ	De Baca	2 hr
Aug 18, 1:38 AM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	Guadalupe, Quay	2 hr
Aug 18, 2:30 AM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	De Baca	2 hr
Aug 18, 3:21 AM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	Quay	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1997 Every 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.