1 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 30, 12:41 PM MST, 4 hours 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 141 PM MDT TUE JUL 30 2002 SYNOPSIS... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING...SOME WITH GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS...THEN CLEARING TONIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT IS BUILDING SOUTH ACROSS NEW MEXICO. THIS WILL BRING MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES WITH ONLY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...AND WILL PUSH AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES UP TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL. DISCUSSION... FOUR CORNERS HIGH STILL IN PLACE TODAY WITH MOIST EAST TO SOUTHEAST FLOW AT MID AND LOW LEVELS...PW ABOUT 1.25 INCHES...ALSO HAVE SOME DIVERGENCE ALOFT. HOWEVER...THAT HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS SOUTH ACROSS NEW MEXICO AND PUSHES DRIER AIR IN FROM THE NORTH...PW DOWN TO NEAR AN INCH BY 31/00Z AND APPROACHING .75 INCHES WEDNESDAY PM. WEAK TROUGH ACROSS BIG BEND REGION AND NORTHERN CHIHUAHUA THIS EVENING WITH VORT MAX OVER EASTERN CHIHUAHUA WILL HELP SERVE AS FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS...PERHAPS JUST BRUSHING THE SOUTHERN PART OF OUR CWA. HOWEVER...OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES WILL LIKELY TRIGGER ADDITIONAL STORMS FARTHER NORTH IN OUR CWA...ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTHERN HUDSPETH COUNTY AND IN THE BOOTHEEL. NOT CHANGING POPS MUCH TONIGHT...JUST TAKING NORTHERN PART OF CWA...TCS...DOWN A BIT. AS 500MB HIGH PUSHES FARTHER SOUTH...DRIER AIR AND SUBSIDENCE CAPPING WILL PUT A DAMPER ON OUR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS WITH AFTERNOON TEMPS UP A FEW DEGREES.LOWERING POPS FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AND PUSHING TEMPS UP A LITTLE AS WELL. HIGH PRESSURE WEAKENS AND GETS A BIT DIRTY AS IT STRETCHES FROM ARIZONA TO KENTUCKY OVER THE WEEKEND...THEN SPLITS IN HALF WITH WESTERN SECTION MIGRATING TO SOUTHERN UTAH/NORTHERN AZ EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS SCENARIO WOULD ALLOW A SLIGHT INCREASE IN THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER THE WEEKEND...PERHAPS SCATTERED MOUNTAIN STORMS BUT STILL ONLY ISOLATED OVER THE REST OF THE AREA. IN THE LONGER RANGE... IF 500MB HIGH STRENGTHENS AND CENTERS OVER NORTHERN AZ/SOUTHERN UT NEXT WEEK IT COULD GO EITHER WAY. WE COULD SEE INCREASED MOISTURE AT MID LEVELS WITH OCCASIONAL VORT MAXES COMING IN FROM THE NORTH OR NORTHEAST TO BRING MORE THUNDERSTORMS. ALTERNATIVELY...THE HIGH COULD BE STRONG ENOUGH (AS THE MRF SUGGESTS) AND FAR ENOUGH WEST TO BRING IN DRY AIR AND TO CAP THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. THEREFORE...NO CHANGE TO THE LONG RANGE. EL PASO BB 70/ 98/ 68/ 97/ 69 31212 LAS CRUCES BB 66/ 97/ 65/ 96/ 66 31212 ALAMOGORDO BB 66/ 97/ 65/ 96/ 66 31212 CLOUDCROFT BB 47/ 75/ 46/ 75/ 47 22121 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES BB 66/ 98/ 65/ 97/ 66 21212 SILVER CITY BB 60/ 89/ 59/ 88/ 59 22121 DEMING BB 65/ 97/ 64/ 97/ 64 31212 LORDSBURG BB 65/ 98/ 64/ 98/ 64 31111 SIERRA BLANCA BB 68/ 96/ 67/ 95/ 68 31212 .ELP...NONE 21 N
NMZ030-031-310235- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX 230 PM MDT TUE JUL 30 2002 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS LUNA COUNTY TO THE ARIZONA LINE... MOIST AIR AND DAYTIME HEATING ARE TRIGGERING THUNDERSTORMS FROM LUNA COUNTY INTO THE BOOTHEEL. THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND MOVE WEST THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. SOME STORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG OUTFLOW WINDS OF 45 TO 55 MPH WITH BLOWING DUST THAT COULD REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO BE CAUTIOUS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ESPECIALLY ALONG I10 WEST OF DEMING AND ON ROUTE 180. SERIOUS CHAIN REACTION ACCIDENTS ARE COMMON DURING THESE DUST STORMS...MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AND POOR VISIBILITY. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD ALSO PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN OF 1 TO 2 INCHES OR MORE...CAUSING FLOODING ACROSS ROADWAYS AND IN NORMALLY DRY ARROYOS. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS OR DRIVE THROUGH AREAS OF FLOWING WATER.
NMZ024-032-310030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX 530 PM MDT TUE JUL 30 2002 AT 520 PM DOPPLER RADAR WAS SHOWING A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN LAS CRUCES AND ANTHONY NEW MEXICO NEAR I-10. HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL...AND STRONG WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS OVER THE NEXT HOUR. PORTIONS OF I-10 BETWEEN THESE TWO CITIES WILL BE AFFECTED...ALONG WITH THE TOWNS OF MESQUITE...LA MESA AND CHAMBERINO. THE STORMS ARE MOVING VERY SLOWLY SO AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY. MOTORISTS IN THIS AREA ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION AS CROSSWINDS MAY BE STRONG AND SOME PONDING OF WATER ON THE INTERSTATE IS POSSIBLE. ALSO RUNNING WATER ACROSS LOW LYING SPOTS OF SURROUNDING HIGHWAYS IS LIKELY. DH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Runoff from a thunderstorm over the Franklin Mountains caused an arroyo to fill to a depth of 10 feet. The frontage roads near the arroyo were covered with water, and extensive ponding resulted downstream.
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: 5309682.