Alert archive / New Mexico / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 25, NWS Albuquerque, NM

July 30, 1998Curry County, Quay County, Roosevelt County, New Mexico

NWS Albuquerque, NM issued this flash flood warning at Jul 30, 1998, 8:59 PM MDT for Curry County, Quay County, Roosevelt 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: Jul 30, 1998, 8:59 PM MDT (02:59 UTC)
Expired: Jul 30, 1998, 11:55 PM MDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Albuquerque, NM
Area: Whole counties

Counties Curry County, NM, Quay County, NM, Roosevelt County, NM

The radar

The Cannon AFB radar (KFDX), 16 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:00 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 177 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: 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 310300
FFWABQ
NMC009-037-041-310555-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CURRY COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
  EASTERN QUAY COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
  ROOSEVELT COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO

* UNTIL 1155 PM MDT

* AT 855 PM MDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS EXTENDED FROM NEAR NARA
  VISA SOUTHWARD TO NEAR KENNA.  THIS BAND WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT
  5 MPH.

* ADDTIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE
  FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND DIP AS WELL AS CAUSING FLOODING OF
  ARROYOS AND WASHES.

  SOME SMALL HAIL WITH WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.

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

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, 2 hours 59 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, 2 hours 52 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 30, 6:38 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABQ	Union	62 min
Jul 30, 6:46 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABQ	Guadalupe, San Miguel	59 min
Jul 30, 6:55 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	De Baca, Quay	2 hr
Jul 30, 6:55 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	Curry	2 hr
Jul 30, 7:48 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	Harding, Union	102 min
Jul 30, 7:48 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABQ	Guadalupe, San Miguel	102 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 1998 Every 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.