Flash Flood in New Mexico, July 21, 1999

Name: Flash Flood in New Mexico, July 21, 1999
Start: 1999-07-21T00:30
End: 1999-07-21T02:00
Location: New Mexico

July 21, 1999 · NWS ABQ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $150,000
Crop damage: $150,000
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

The radar

The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Socorro

When: July 21, 12:30 AM MST to 2:00 AM MST
Where: Socorro County, 2 mi S of Socorro
Property damage: $150,000
Crop damage: $150,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.007, -106.930 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rain near Socorro filled arroyos with runoff during the late evening. Several levees along Arroyo Matanza failed as additional strong runoff from the Magdalena Mountains overwhelmed a 90 degree turn in the arroyo just south of Socorro. Water flooded nearly 800 acres of farmland washing away fresh cut alfalfa hay and covering about 300 acres in heavy mud. An adjacent railroad bed was also undercut least 5 times along 2 miles of track.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Mexico in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in New Mexico, July 1999

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5704012.