Name: Damaging Wind and Heavy Rain in New Mexico, July 19, 2002
Start: 2002-07-19T14:35
End: 2002-07-19T15:30
Location: New Mexico

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: $3,000
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.

Thundertorm winds damaged porch coverings attached to several mobile homes in the El Cerro community, while heavy rain caused swift run off into small arroyos and enough erosion to block several dirt roads leading into the Meadow Lake area.

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 19, 2:00 PM MST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 19, 2:00 PM MST, 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
300 PM MDT FRI JUL 19 2002

MORNING MOISTURE PLUME NOW EXTENDS NORTH FROM MEXICO ACROSS FAR ERN
AZ AND THE WRN 2/3 OF NM. NOW YOU CAN SAY MONSOON...AT LEAST FROM
TODAY THRU THE WEEKEND AND MAYBE INTO MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK. TSTMS
THRU THIS EVE COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AS AIRMASS IS
PLENTY MOIST...AND SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST STEERING FLOW RATHER WEAK.
SHOWERS AND A FEW STORMS LIKELY TO DIMINISH TONIGHT BUT LINGER WELL
PAST MIDNIGHT WRN 2/3. HIT AND MISS TSTMS IN THE EAST THRU MONDAY.

MODELS BUILD AN UPPER LVL 4 CORNERS HIGH TUE INTO WED OF NEXT WEEK
TO INHIBIT THE MOISTURE STREAM...OR DEFLECT IT WESTWARD TOWARD AZ...
RESULTING IN A GRADUAL DOWNTURN IN CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY FOR MOST OF
NM.

ABQ BB 065/084 064/084 064 07544
SAF BB 057/082 057/081 057 07544
TCC BB 067/094 067/092 067 07222

EAP

.ABQ...NONE.

The radar

The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:34 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Valencia

When: July 19, 2:35 PM MST to 2:40 PM MST
Where: Valencia County, El Cerro
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 34.733, -106.700

Heavy Rain, Valencia

When: July 19, 3:30 PM MST
Where: Valencia County, 12 mi E of Los Lunas
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.715, -106.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

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: 5307698, 5307699.