Drought, Northwest Plateau / San Juan Except X Sw and Se / Nc McKinley
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Northwest Plateau / San Juan Except X Sw and Se / Nc McKinley forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought in New Mexico, August 1 to 31, 2002
A weak summer thunderstorm season continued across north and central New Mexico during the month. Several periods of state wide rain and locally heavy storms teased the region with a temporary lull in high fire danger and a slight boost in river flows but irrigation season faced an early cut off with water supply still too low to sustain normal demand.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 22
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.
A weak summer thunderstorm season continued across north and central New Mexico during the month. Several periods of state wide rain and locally heavy storms teased the region with a temporary lull in high fire danger and a slight boost in river flows but irrigation season faced an early cut off with water supply still too low to sustain normal demand. Newspapers summed up the season nicely with headlines of "Monsoons Fail to Snap State Drought".
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 31, 8:15 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 8:15 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 915 PM MDT WED JUL 31 2002 ...UPDATE... TSTMS DISSIPATING WITH THE SETTING SUN AND LIGHTNING STRIKES/RADAR ECHOES ALL BUT GONE. THEREFORE HAVE REMOVED MENTION OF PCPN FROM ENTIRE CWFA FORECAST FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT. PRESSURE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KABQ AND KCQC HAS STABILIZED A BIT...REFLECTED IN DIMINISHED WINDS...SO HAVE DROPPED MENTION OF CANYON FLOW REST OF THE NIGHT. KABQ AND KAEG HAVE NOW PICKED UP A NORTH WIND FROM AN OUTFLOW WHICH CAME SOUTH FROM KSAF AREA...BUT THIS TOO SHALL PASS SOON. MIN TEMPS LOOKED GOOD SO DID NOT CHANGE. .ABQ...NONE. KD
Event by event
22 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Drought, Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains / Sc Lincoln
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains / Sc Lincoln forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County / Se Santa Fe / W San Miguel / Torrance Except X W / E Socorro
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County / Se Santa Fe / W San Miguel / Torrance Except X W / E Socorro forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Chaves County Plains / Chaves Except X Sw
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Chaves County Plains / Chaves Except X Sw forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Conchas Lake/Guadalupe / E San Miguel / Guadalupe
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Conchas Lake/Guadalupe / E San Miguel / Guadalupe forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Curry
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Curry forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, De Baca
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- De Baca forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Far Northeast Plains / Union Except X Nw / X Se Colfax
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Far Northeast Plains / Union Except X Nw / X Se Colfax forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Harding
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Harding forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Lincoln County High Plains/Hondo Valley / Lincoln Except Sc
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Lincoln County High Plains/Hondo Valley / Lincoln Except Sc forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Lower Rio Grande Valley / Part of C and E Socorro
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Lower Rio Grande Valley / Part of C and E Socorro forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Middle Rio Grande Valley / X Sc Sanduval / Valencia Except X E / X E Cibola / Bernalillo Except E and X Nw
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Middle Rio Grande Valley / X Sc Sanduval / Valencia Except X E / X E Cibola / Bernalillo Except E and X Nw forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Northeast Highlands / All But X W and X Se Colfax / All But X W Mora / C San Miguel / X Nw Union
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Northeast Highlands / All But X W and X Se Colfax / All But X W Mora / C San Miguel / X Nw Union forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Northwest Mountains Including Jemez / Rio Arriba Except X Se / Sanduval Except Se and X Sw / Los Alamos / Ne McKinley / Se San Juan / X Nw Santa Fe
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Northwest Mountains Including Jemez / Rio Arriba Except X Se / Sanduval Except Se and X Sw / Los Alamos / Ne McKinley / Se San Juan / X Nw Santa Fe forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Quay
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Quay forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Roosevelt
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Roosevelt forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Sandia/Manzano Mountains / Most of W Santa Fe / E Bernalillo / X Se Sanduval / X W Torrance / E Valencia / Part of E Socorro
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Sandia/Manzano Mountains / Most of W Santa Fe / E Bernalillo / X Se Sanduval / X W Torrance / E Valencia / Part of E Socorro forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Sangre de Cristo Mountains / Taos / X W Mora / X Se Rio Arriba / Ne Santa Fe / X W Colfax / X Nw San Miguel
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Sangre de Cristo Mountains / Taos / X W Mora / X Se Rio Arriba / Ne Santa Fe / X W Colfax / X Nw San Miguel forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Southwest Mountains/Upper Gila Region / Catron Except N / Part of W Socorro
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Southwest Mountains/Upper Gila Region / Catron Except N / Part of W Socorro forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Upper Rio Grande Valley / Nw Santa Fe / Part of Se Rio Arriba / Part of Se Sanduval
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Upper Rio Grande Valley / Nw Santa Fe / Part of Se Rio Arriba / Part of Se Sanduval forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Drought, Westcentral Mountains / McKinley Except Nc and Ne / Cibola Except X E / N Catron / X Sw Sanduval / X Nw Bernalillo / X Nw Socorro
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Westcentral Mountains / McKinley Except Nc and Ne / Cibola Except X E / N Catron / X Sw Sanduval / X Nw Bernalillo / X Nw Socorro forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
What these are
- Drought
- A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Pennsylvania, August 1 to 5, 2002
- Heat in Maryland, August 1 to 5, 2002
- Heat in Missouri, August 1 to 6, 2002
- Wildfire in California, August 1 to 13, 2002
- Heat in New Jersey, August 1 to 5, 2002
- Wildfire in California, August 1 to 29, 2002
- Heat in Louisiana, August 1, 2002
- Drought in Wisconsin, August 1 to 11, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Michigan, August 1 to 2, 2002
- Wildfire in Colorado, August 1 to 2, 2002
- Drought in Georgia, August 1 to 31, 2002
- Wildfire in Colorado, August 1 to 31, 2002
More
Every storm in New Mexico in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, August 2002
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: 5314938, 5314939, 5314940, 5314941, 5314942, 5314943, 5314944, 5314945, 5314946, 5314947, 5314948, 5314949, 5314950, 5314951, 5314952, 5314953, 5314954, 5314955, 5314956, 5314957, 5314958, 5314959.