Drought in New Mexico, July 1 to 31, 2002

Name: Drought in New Mexico, July 1 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-07-01T00:00
End: 2002-07-31T23:59
Location: New Mexico

July 1 to 31, 2002 · NWS ABQ · 22 events in 22 counties and zones

Dry weather dominated for many areas throughout the month. The long awaited summer thunderstorm season began about a week late and with early rainfall amounts that were light and spotty.

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.

Dry weather dominated for many areas throughout the month. The long awaited summer thunderstorm season began about a week late and with early rainfall amounts that were light and spotty. Hopes for drought relief were dashed during the mid-month as a high pressure center rebuilt over the state and suppressed the showers. Following several weeks of abnormally dry weather at mid-month, showers returned but were brought by unusual northeast to southwest upper level winds. By the end of the month higher elevation forest areas had had enough rain and higher humidity to allow the re-opening of federal and state recreational lands that had been closed due to extreme fire danger since early June or for one the longest closure periods on record. Runoff from rains, however, was still light and new worries began that the Rio Grande River would run dry near Albuquerque before the end of summer.

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 Jun 30, 2:00 PM MST, 10 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 2:00 PM MST, 10 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
300 PM MDT SUN JUN 30 2002

GOING FORECAST ON TRACK AS 12Z MODELS DO NOT SHOW ANY BIG CHANGES. A
PERSISTENCE FORECAST LOOKS OK AT THIS TIME. 4 CORNERS UPPER HIGH
HOLDS TIGHT WHILE UPPER LOW OVER TEXAS SLOWLY WEAKENS AS ITS DRIFTS
NW. DEEPEST MOISTURE AND BEST SHOT FOR TSTMS STILL LOOKS TO BE OVER
THE CWA WED THROUGH FRIDAY. FOR TODAYS AND MONDAYS ISOLATED TSTM
CROP...N-NNE FLOW ALOFT WILL KEEP THE MAJORITY OF THE STORMS OVER THE
MOUNTAINS. ONE OR TWO MIGHT TRY TO VENTURE INTO THE CENTRAL
VALLEYS...BUT BELIEVE SUBSIDENCE AND DOWNSLOPING WILL ALLOW THE
STORMS TO DISSIPATE LEAVING ONLY GUSTY WINDS AND A FEW SPRINKLES. AN
INCREASE IN MOUNTAIN AND ADJACENT HIGHLAND CONVECTION TUE EVENING
COULD ALLOW FOR A BETTER EASTERLY SURGE. MIDWEEK CONVECTION LOOKS TO
BE MORE IMPRESSIVE ESPECIALLY IF AVIATION IS CORRECT IN ITS PLACEMENT
OF THE UPPER RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND AN UPPER
TROUGH OVER ARIZONA AND THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES. THIS LOOKS MORE MONSOON
LIKE AS WINDS TURN MORE SOUTHERLY. ALSO, A PACIFIC TROPICAL TAP (SEEN
ON THIS MORNING IR) COULD BE A PLAYER IF IT SURGES FARTHER NORTH.
TIME WILL TELL. BEYOND FRIDAY WILL GO WITH CURRENT OUTLOOK AND STAY
WITH CLIMO...UNTIL WITH SEE THE MOISTURE SURGE REMAIN PERSISTENT.

ABQ BB 068/098 068/096 069 49001
SAF BB 056/094 057/091 056 49112
TCC BB 070/095 069/093 069 49112

.ABQ...NONE.

Event by event

22 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Chaves County Plains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Chaves County Plains forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Conchas Lake/Guadalupe

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Conchas Lake/Guadalupe forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Curry

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Curry forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, De Baca

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: De Baca forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Far Northeast Plains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Far Northeast Plains forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Harding

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Harding forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Lincoln County High Plains/Hondo Valley

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Lincoln County High Plains/Hondo Valley forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Lower Rio Grande Valley

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Lower Rio Grande Valley forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Middle Rio Grande Valley

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Middle Rio Grande Valley forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Northeast Highlands

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Northeast Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Northwest Mountains Including Jemez

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Northwest Mountains Including Jemez forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Northwest Plateau

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Northwest Plateau forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Quay

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Quay forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Roosevelt

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Roosevelt forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Sandia/Manzano Mountains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Sandia/Manzano Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Sangre de Cristo Mountains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Sangre de Cristo Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Southwest Mountains/Upper Gila Region

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Southwest Mountains/Upper Gila Region forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Upper Rio Grande Valley

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Upper Rio Grande Valley forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Westcentral Mountains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Westcentral Mountains 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

Every storm in New Mexico in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in New Mexico, July 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: 5307771, 5307772, 5307773, 5307774, 5307775, 5307776, 5307777, 5307778, 5307779, 5307780, 5307781, 5307782, 5307783, 5307784, 5307785, 5307786, 5307787, 5307788, 5307789, 5307790, 5307791, 5307792.