1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 El Paso, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 17, 1:26 PM MST, 4 hours 34 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 226 PM MDT WED JUL 17 2002 SYNOPSIS... A BROAD AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WITH A MOIST ATMOSPHERE WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THE BORDERLAND IS LIKELY TO SEE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WITH THE MOIST ATMOSPHERE IN PLACE...SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE SOME HEAVY SHOWERS. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN NEAR OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL AS CLOUD COVER WILL REDUCE DAYTIME HEATING. DISCUSSION... FAIRLY HIGH MOIST ATMOSPHERE REMAINS IN PLACE TODAY WITH PWS THAT ARE AROUND 120-150% OF NORMAL...AND MODELS STILL SHOWING HIGH PRECIP EFFICIENCY VALUES OVER MOST OF CWA. LOOK FOR SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN TONIGHT WITH LOCAL HEAVY SHOWERS. ONLY READILY APPARENT CHANGE FROM YESTERDAY...ETA/AVN/RUC ALL SHOWING SURFACE CONVERGENCE ZONE SHIFTING TO THE EAST TONIGHT AS LIGHT WEST WINDS SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. MID TERM...BOTH ETA/AVN SHOWING RIDGE OVER CWA NOW CONNECTED TO GULF OF MEXICO HIGH WITH WEAK PERSISTENT VORT LOBE EAST-WEST THROUGH THIS RIDGE ACROSS NORTHERN PORTION OF CWA. BOTH MODELS SHOW THIS LOBE PERSISTING THROUGH FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. WITH SEASONALLY HIGH PWS CONTINUING AND NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF FOCUSING...WILL KEEP SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM WORDING IN FORECAST THROUGH THIS PERIOD. AVN SHOWS BY SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY THE LARGE RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BECOMES MORE EAST-WEST AND LINKS UP WITH BAJA HIGH. THE PESKY VORT LOBE THEN ORIENTS NORTH-SOUTH THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THIS RIDGE...RIGHT OVER THE CWA...AND PERHAPS GETS SOME REINFORCEMENT FROM WEAK EASTERLY WAVES. HARD TO PUT ANY SPATIAL RESOLUTION IN THIS PATTERN SO FOR NOW WILL JUST KEEP THE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN FOR THE DURATION OF THE EXTENDED. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN AT OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL AS SIGNIFICANT CLOUD COVER WILL HINDER DAYTIME HEATING. EL PASO BB 70/ 91/ 69/ 92/ 68 42424 LAS CRUCES BB 65/ 92/ 64/ 92/ 63 42424 ALAMOGORDO BB 64/ 90/ 64/ 91/ 63 42424 CLOUDCROFT BB 46/ 68/ 45/ 69/ 44 34343 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES BB 65/ 89/ 64/ 90/ 63 43434 SILVER CITY BB 59/ 86/ 58/ 85/ 57 34343 DEMING BB 65/ 92/ 64/ 91/ 62 42424 LORDSBURG BB 64/ 93/ 63/ 92/ 61 22424 SIERRA BLANCA BB 65/ 87/ 65/ 88/ 64 43434 .ELP...NONE 17 HEFNER N
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Very heavy rainfall from thunderstorms was measured at almost 6 inches in less than an hour in Monticello, with 4 inches at nearby Placita. A flash flood in Monticello Canyon washed out Highway 142 at the mouth of the canyon.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, July 2002
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: 5309680.