New Mexico, 2002

Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in New Mexico, August 20, 2002

August 20, 2002 · NWS ABQ · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy rain again developed over northern Roosevelt and south central Curry counties causing the rapid filling of low water crossings and the closure of rural highways from near Floyd north to Saint Vrain.

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
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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.

Heavy rain again developed over northern Roosevelt and south central Curry counties causing the rapid filling of low water crossings and the closure of rural highways from near Floyd north to Saint Vrain.

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 Aug 20, 8:07 PM MST, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 8:07 PM MST, 53 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
907 PM MDT TUE AUG 20 2002

ANOTHER ACTIVE EVENING OF CONVECTION ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA AS YET ANOTHER SHORT
WAVES AFFECTS THE STATE...THIS TIME FROM THE WEST. APPEARS SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL
GO WELL INTO THE NIGHT OVER MOST AREAS. WILL END PRECIP AROUND MIDNIGHT FAR WEST
AND TOWAR DAYBREAK RIO GRANDE VALLEY...AND ALLOW ALL NIGHT CENTRAL MOUNTAINS ON
EAST. BEEFED UP CLOUDS ALL AREAS AND POPS CENTRAL AND EAST. WINDS AND TEMPS IN
GOOD SHAPE. 40

.ABQ...NONE.

CHJ

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Roosevelt

When
August 20, 9:00 PM MST to 11:59 PM MST
Where
Roosevelt County, Floyd
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
34.021, -103.480 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Curry

When
August 20, 9:15 PM MST to 11:00 PM MST
Where
Curry County, St Vrain
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.574, -103.347 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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

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: 5314933, 5314932.