New Mexico, 2002

Hail in New Mexico, June 13, 2002

June 13, 2002 · NWS ABQ · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Several large thunderstorms, all of them copious hail producers, moved across south central Colfax County into northwest Harding and western Union counties. The storm that began northwest of Springer during mid-afternoon moved east across Interstate 25 just north of Springer and then turned a little southeast dumping tons of hail over the open range north of State Road 56.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
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.

Several large thunderstorms, all of them copious hail producers, moved across south central Colfax County into northwest Harding and western Union counties. The storm that began northwest of Springer during mid-afternoon moved east across Interstate 25 just north of Springer and then turned a little southeast dumping tons of hail over the open range north of State Road 56. Ice covered the ground 6 to 12 inches over a wide region creating the appearance a winter snow storm. Highway road crews spent hours removing and hauling hail. Hail in Chico Creek east of Springer filled the arroyo 12 to 14 feet deep and then was measured 2 feet higher than the two and half foot guard rail at Highway 56. Ice was still present in the arroyo 3 weeks after the event.

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 13, 2:25 PM MST, 2 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 13, 2:25 PM MST, 2 hours 43 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
325 PM MDT THU JUN 13 2002

TYPICAL JUNE PATTERN ACROSS AREA WITH POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE TSTMS
THRU AT LEAST MIDNIGHT ACROSS THE PLAINS...DRY AND GENERALLY STABLE
ACROSS THE WEST. APPEARS SFC COLD FRONT EXTENDS FROM SOUTHERN PARTS
OF THE EAST CENTRAL PLAINS NORTHWESTWARD TOWARD THE EAST SLOPES OF
THE SANGRE DE CRISTOS. STRONGLY SHEARED ENVIRONMENT EXISTS ALONG
AND NORTH OF FRONTAL BOUNDARY...WHICH MAY HELP TO ORGANIZE
CONVECTION DURING THE NIGHT ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE ECNTL PLAINS WHERE
HIGHER DEW POINTS WILL BE AVAILABLE. GUSTY EAST WINDS DEVELOPING
ALONG THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY BY MIDNIGHT AND PERSISTING THROUGH
FRIDAY MORNING BEFORE GRADIENTS TEND MORE S-SELY DURING THE
AFTERNOON. LOOKS LIKE A NOTCH LESS ACTIVE ON SATURDAY BUT CAN/T RULE
OUT CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND EAST. ACROSS THE WEST...ALTHOUGH WE SHOULD
SEE AN INCREASE IN LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IT WILL BE SHALLOW AND OVERALL
AIR MASS TO REMAIN RELATIVELY STABLE SO WILL HEDGE TOWARD SLIGHT
CHANCE FOR NOW.  LEE TROUGHING RETURNS SATURDAY...AND THEN LOOKS
LIKE ANOTHER FRONTAL PASSGE LATE SAT NIGHT INTO SUNDAY.  OTHERWISE
UPPER RIDGE TO BREAK DOWN BEGINNING SUNDAY WITH A GENERALLY DRY
WEATHER PATTERN TAKING SHAPE FOR THE PERIOD TUESDAY THROUGH
THURSDAY.  KJ

ABQ BB 068/091 064/094 065 41-11
SAF BB 052/086 055/089 057 41-11
TCC BB 061/082 063/089 063 41412

.ABQ...SEVERE TSTM WATCH TILL 900 PM MDT FOR MUCH OF THE EAST.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 13, 3:12 PM MST, 1 hour 56 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE, NM
412 PM MDT THU JUN 13 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0350 PM    12 NE ABBOTT              NM   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/13/02   COLFAX
Local storm report, Jun 13, 3:21 PM MST, 1 hour 47 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE, NM
421 PM MDT THU JUN 13 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0347 PM    15 NE ABBOTT              NM   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/02   COLFAX
Local storm report, Jun 13, 3:59 PM MST, 1 hour 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE, NM
459 PM MDT THU JUN 13 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0458 PM    15 NE ABBOTT              NM   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/02   COLFAX                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 206 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:07 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Colfax

When
June 13, 5:08 PM MST
Where
Colfax County, 20 mi S of Raton
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.617, -104.433

Hail, Colfax

When
June 13, 6:42 PM MST
Where
Colfax County, 5 mi NE of Abbott
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
36.350, -104.200

What these are

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

More

Every storm in New Mexico in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, June 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: 5300321, 5300322.