Flash Flood and Hail in New Mexico, August 31, 2002

Name: Flash Flood and Hail in New Mexico, August 31, 2002
Start: 2002-08-31T19:10
End: 2002-08-31T20:30
Location: New Mexico

August 31, 2002 · NWS ABQ · 3 events in 1 county or zone

A storm produced large hail northwest of Clayton and then moved over the city with heavy rain that flooded a number of city streets and closed underpasses along Highway 87.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 storm produced large hail northwest of Clayton and then moved over the city with heavy rain that flooded a number of city streets and closed underpasses along Highway 87.

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 31, 2:30 PM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 2:30 PM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
330 PM MDT SAT AUG 31 2002

MOISTURE INCREASE NOTICED OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS AS S-SWLY WINDS
ALOFT HAVE TAKEN OVER. MORE UNSTABLE TODAY AS WELL...ESPECIALLY OVER
THE NE AND CENTRAL HIGHLANDS. STILL A DOWN DAY FOR THE FAR NORTHWEST
HOWEVER...DESPITE THE MID LEVEL MOISTURE OBSERVED THIS MORNING.
WILL CONTINUE SCATTERED POPS MANY AREAS INTO THE EVENING HOURS.
MODELS SHIFT THE UPPER HIGH CENTER WESTWARD SUNDAY WHICH MAY LEAD TO
A DECREASE IN CONVECTION. LABOR DAY LOOKS SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO
SUNDAY.

FOR THE EXTENDED...UPR TROUGH DEVELOPING ALONG WEST COAST SHOULD
ALLOW GUD FLOW OF MOISTURE INTO STATE WED/THU AND PSBLY AS EARLY AS
TUES. AS THE RESULTING BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ALOFT MIGRATES A
BIT EASTWARD LATER IN THE COMING WEEK...SOME DRYING MAY OCCUR OVER
THE NW PART OF THE STATE ACCOMPANIED BY AFTERNOON BREEZES. ALSO
DEPICTED...HOWEVER...IS THE POSSIBILITY FOR MOISTURE FROM REMNANTS
OF A TROPICAL SYSTEM TO BECOME ENTRAINED IN SWLYS LATE NEXT WEEK.

ABQ BB 063/089 063/089 064 48212
SAF BB 051/088 050/088 052 48212
TCC BB 064/094 064/094 065 48212

.ABQ...NONE.

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 206 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:10 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Union

When: August 31, 7:10 PM MST
Where: Union County, 10 mi NW of Clayton
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.550, -103.317

Flash Flood, Union

When: August 31, 8:00 PM MST to 8:30 PM MST
Where: Union County, Clayton
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.482, -103.471 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Union

When: August 31, 8:03 PM MST
Where: Union County, 7 mi NW of Clayton
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.517, -103.267

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5314935, 5314937, 5314936.