Flash Flooding in New Mexico, July 13, 2001

Name: Flash Flooding in New Mexico, July 13, 2001
Start: 2001-07-13T16:00
End: 2001-07-13T16:00
Location: New Mexico

July 13, 2001 · NWS ABQ · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Motorist reported water over Highway 87 at numerous places from Capulin west into Colfax County for about 20 miles. An observer in Capulin had 2 inches of rain in 75 minutes.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.

Motorist reported water over Highway 87 at numerous places from Capulin west into Colfax County for about 20 miles. An observer in Capulin had 2 inches of rain in 75 minutes.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Albuquerque, NM wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 13, 2:30 PM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 2:30 PM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
330 PM MDT FRI JUL 13 2001

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH ACROSS NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO TONIGHT...

THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER TEXAS HAS NUDGED INTO NEW MEXICO THIS
AFTERNOON. GREATER AMOUNTS OF RESIDUAL MOISTURE FROM LAST NIGHTS MCC
HAS MOVED IN ACROSS THE NORTHEAST AND INTO THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY.
EAST WINDS HAVE GIVEN WAY TO SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST WINDS. MOISTURE IS
QUITE ABUNDANT AND SHOULD REMAIN AROUND THE STATE FOR THE NEXT FEW
DAYS.

CONVECTION IS AGAIN FIRING ACROSS THE STATE WITH THE MOUNTAINS AND
OTHER ELEVATED HEAT SOURCES ACTING AS A PRIMARY FOCUS. THE AREA OF
GREATEST CONCERN IS THE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT
HIGHLANDS. THUNDERSTORM CLUSTER HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED AND AT LEAST
ONE LOW LEVEL OUTFLOW BOUNDARY EXTENDS FROM NEAR RATON TO TUCUMCARI.
INDICATIONS ARE THAT AN MCS IS LIKELY TO FORM OVER NORTHEAST NEW
MEXICO AND RIDE THE BOUNDARY DOWN INTO QUAY OR CURRY COUNTY AND INTO
THE TEXAS PANHANDLE BY SUNRISE SATURDAY. GREATEST THREAT APPEARS TO
BE STRONG WINDS AND FLOODING POTENTIAL. HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE THIS
EVENING.

EXTENDED PERIODS READ LIKE A BROKEN AUDIO WAVE FILE. PARTLY CLOUDY
WITH A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. CHANGES IN THE
WEATHER PATTERN WILL BE SUBTLE AND THEREFORE NO GREAT VARIATIONS ARE
LIKELY IN THE EXTENDED PERIODS.

ABQ BB 069/095 067/093 066 33213
SAF BB 060/090 061/089 060 33324
TCC BB 068/092 068/091 066 33524

.ABQ...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Union

When: July 13, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Union County, Capulin
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 36.482, -103.471 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Colfax

When: July 13, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Colfax County, 12 mi SE of Raton
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 36.606, -104.647 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in New Mexico, July 2001

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: 5258523, 5258524.