Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 23, NWS Albuquerque, NM

July 30, 1998Harding County, Union County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at Jul 30, 1998, 7:48 PM MDT for Harding County, Union County, New Mexico. It was in force for 102 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 30, 1998, 7:48 PM MDT (01:48 UTC)
Expired
Jul 30, 1998, 9:30 PM MDT
In force
102 min
Issued by
NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area
Whole counties

Counties Harding County, NM, Union County, NM

The radar

The Cannon AFB radar (KFDX), 171 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:50 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 204 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1998-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1429 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1998-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 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
1429 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2183 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
8.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KABQ 310149
FFWABQ
NMC019-021-047-059-310320-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
748 PM MDT THU JUL 30 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  GUADALUPE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
  SOUTHEASTERN HARDING COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO
  EASTERN SAN MIGUEL COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO
  SOUTHERN UNION COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

* UNTIL 930 PM MDT

* AT 745 PM MDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN FROM SEDAN IN UNION
  COUNTY TO SOUTHEASTERN SAN MIGUEL COUNTY TO SOUTHERN GUADALUPE
  COUNTY.  THIS LINE IS MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST AT 5 MPH.

* RAINFALL OF 2 TO 3 INCHES IN A SHORT PERIOD WILL CAUSE RAPID RISES
  IN ARROYOS AND WASHES AND PONDING ON STREETS AND ROADS.

MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT ATTEMPT
TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPBS...ARROYOS OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE HALF INCH TO THREE-QUARTER INCH
HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH.

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, Jul 30, 6:00 PM MDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO
600 PM MDT THU JUL 30 1998

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

0435 PM    CLINES CORNERS            NM   .75 INCH HAIL
07/30/98   TORRANCE                       ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY RAIN
                                          AND STRONG WINDS
Local storm report, Jul 30, 6:07 PM MDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO
607 PM MDT THU JUL 30 1998

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

0425 PM    GALLINAS                  NM   FLOODING
07/30/98   SAN MIGUEL                     FLASH FLOODING AND SMALL
                                          HAIL REPORTED BY FIRE DEPT

0515 PM    LAS VEGAS                 NM   FLOODING
07/30/98   SAN MIGUEL                     FLASH FLOODING. 2.5 INCHES
                                          RAIN BTWEEN 1530 AND 1630
                                          MDT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 6:38 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQUnion62 min
Jul 30, 6:46 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQGuadalupe, San Miguel59 min
Jul 30, 6:55 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQDe Baca, Quay2 hr
Jul 30, 6:55 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQCurry2 hr
Jul 30, 7:48 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQGuadalupe, San Miguel102 min
Jul 30, 8:59 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningABQCurry, Quay, Roosevelt3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1998Every flash flood warning in 1998

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.