Flash Flooding and Hail in New Mexico, July 3, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding and Hail in New Mexico, July 3, 2002
Start: 2002-07-03T17:00
End: 2002-07-03T17:40
Location: New Mexico

July 3, 2002 · NWS ABQ · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

A storm produced heavy rain and road flooding from Encino east to Vaughn, while another dumped large hail east of Santa Rosa.

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
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 heavy rain and road flooding from Encino east to Vaughn, while another dumped large hail east of Santa Rosa.

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 3, 2:05 PM MST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 2:05 PM MST, 2 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
305 PM MDT WED JUL 3 2002

LOW ALOFT HEADING EAST FROM WRN AZ HAS ERODED THE 4 CORNERS HIGH.
MID LVL PACIFIC MOISTURE AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING LOW ALOFT ALONG
WITH COOL POOL IS GENERATING CONVECTION IN NRN AZ AND WRN NM. LOW
WEAKENS AS IT TREKS EAST BUT LINGERING COOL POOL OF AIR ALOFT WILL
GENERATE ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS ACROSS NRN AND ERN NM
THUR AND THUR NITE. CONVECTION IN THE ERN NM WILL BE AIDED BY THE
INFLUX OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FM TX. EFFECTS OF COOL POOL LINGER
INTO FRIDAY...MAINLY NORTH.
RIDGE ALOFT REBUILDS OVR CO/UT/WY THIS WEEKEND THEN POSSIBLY
MIGRATING A BIT FURTHER NW EARLY NEXT WEEK. PATTERN ALLOWS FOR
LOW LVL EASTERLY FLOW INTRUSIONS INTO ERN PLAINS BUT NOT FAVORABLE
FOR WIDESPREAD AFTN TSTM ACTIVITY UNTIL THE MEXICAN MOISTURE TAP
BECOMES AVBL. NOT AS HOT...ESPCLY ERN PLAINS.

ABQ EB 069/091 066/091 066 07333
SAF EB 059/085 056/086 054 07444
TCC BB 068/084 066/083 065 07323

.ABQ...NONE.

The radar

The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:40 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Flash Flood, Torrance

When: July 3, 5:00 PM MST to 5:20 PM MST
Where: Torrance County, Encino
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 34.641, -105.851 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Guadalupe

When: July 3, 5:00 PM MST to 5:20 PM MST
Where: Guadalupe County, Vaughn
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 34.863, -104.791 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Guadalupe

When: July 3, 5:40 PM MST
Where: Guadalupe County, 7 mi E of Santa Rosa
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 34.933, -104.567

What these are

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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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: 5307688, 5307689, 5307687.