New Mexico, 2002

Drought in New Mexico, March 1 to 31, 2002

March 1 to 31, 2002 · NWS ABQ · 22 events in 22 counties and zones

Dry late winter and early spring conditions continued to raise fears of an early and extended fire weather season, while projections for snow melt runoff of only 30-40 percent of normal threatened a lack of irrigation water as farmers were gearing up for planting season and first waterings of alfalfa.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
22

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.

Dry late winter and early spring conditions continued to raise fears of an early and extended fire weather season, while projections for snow melt runoff of only 30-40 percent of normal threatened a lack of irrigation water as farmers were gearing up for planting season and first waterings of alfalfa.

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 Feb 28, 3:48 PM MST, 8 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 3:48 PM MST, 8 hours 13 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
348 PM MST THU FEB 28 2002

TURNING SHARPLY COLDER WITH AN INCREASING CHANCE OF ACCUMULATING SNOW
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS, CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN AND AREAS ACROSS THE EAST
FRI INTO SAT AS COLD UPPER TROUGH TRANSLATES EWD AND ARCTIC AIR MASS
PUSHES SOUTH. IMPROVING WX ON SUN WITH A WARMING TREND COMMENCING MON
WITH A ZONAL FLOW REGIME DOMINATING THROUGH MID-WEEK. THATS ABOUT IT
IN A NUTSHELL.

WITH DEEPENING UPSLOPE FLOW AND INCREASING LIFT AHEAD OF APCHG S/W
...A WINTER STORM WATCH ISSUED FOR THE NCNTL/NE FRI AFTERNOON/FRI
NIGHT. ONCE THIS FIRST SHORT-WAVE MOVES EAST OF THE AREA EARLY FRIDAY
NIGHT, WILL AWAIT FOR SECONDARY WAVE TO CROSS THE AREA SAT THRU EARLY
SUN. BRUNT OF COLD AIR AND BEST CHANCE OF SNOW FRI NIGHT THROUGH SAT
NIGHT.  ENJOY.  KJ

ABQ NC 032/058 025/036 015 410-2
SAF NC 024/049 015/032 006 41013
TCC NC 035/045 013/026 010 41002

.ABQ...WINTER STORM WATCH FRI AFTERNOON AND FRI NIGHT NMZ004-005>007-

Event by event

22 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Northwest Plateau / San Juan Except X Sw and Se / Nc McKinley

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Northwest Plateau / San Juan Except X Sw and Se / Nc McKinley forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains / Sc Lincoln

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Capitan/Northern Sacramento Mountains / Sc Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County / Se Santa Fe / W San Miguel / Torrance Except X W / E Socorro

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County / Se Santa Fe / W San Miguel / Torrance Except X W / E Socorro forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Chaves County Plains / Chaves Except X Sw

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Chaves County Plains / Chaves Except X Sw forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Conchas Lake/Guadalupe / E San Miguel / Guadalupe

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Conchas Lake/Guadalupe / E San Miguel / Guadalupe forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Curry

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Curry forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, De Baca

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
De Baca forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Far Northeast Plains / Union Except X Nw / X Se Colfax

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Far Northeast Plains / Union Except X Nw / X Se Colfax forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Guadalupe Mountains of Chaves County / X Sw Chaves forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Harding

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Harding forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Lincoln County High Plains/Hondo Valley / Lincoln Except Sc

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Lincoln County High Plains/Hondo Valley / Lincoln Except Sc forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Lower Rio Grande Valley / Part of C and E Socorro

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Lower Rio Grande Valley / Part of C and E Socorro forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Middle Rio Grande Valley / X Sc Sanduval / Valencia Except X E / X E Cibola / Bernalillo Except E and X Nw

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Middle Rio Grande Valley / X Sc Sanduval / Valencia Except X E / X E Cibola / Bernalillo Except E and X Nw forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Northeast Highlands / All But X W and X Se Colfax / All But X W Mora / C San Miguel / X Nw Union

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Northeast Highlands / All But X W and X Se Colfax / All But X W Mora / C San Miguel / X Nw Union forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Northwest Mountains Including Jemez / Rio Arriba Except X Se / Sanduval Except Se and X Sw / Los Alamos / Ne McKinley / Se San Juan / X Nw Santa Fe

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Northwest Mountains Including Jemez / Rio Arriba Except X Se / Sanduval Except Se and X Sw / Los Alamos / Ne McKinley / Se San Juan / X Nw Santa Fe forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Quay

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Quay forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Roosevelt

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Roosevelt forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Sandia/Manzano Mountains / Most of W Santa Fe / E Bernalillo / X Se Sanduval / X W Torrance / E Valencia / Part of E Socorro

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Sandia/Manzano Mountains / Most of W Santa Fe / E Bernalillo / X Se Sanduval / X W Torrance / E Valencia / Part of E Socorro forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Sangre de Cristo Mountains / Taos / X W Mora / X Se Rio Arriba / Ne Santa Fe / X W Colfax / X Nw San Miguel

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Sangre de Cristo Mountains / Taos / X W Mora / X Se Rio Arriba / Ne Santa Fe / X W Colfax / X Nw San Miguel forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Southwest Mountains/Upper Gila Region / Catron Except N / Part of W Socorro

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Southwest Mountains/Upper Gila Region / Catron Except N / Part of W Socorro forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Upper Rio Grande Valley / Nw Santa Fe / Part of Se Rio Arriba / Part of Se Sanduval

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Upper Rio Grande Valley / Nw Santa Fe / Part of Se Rio Arriba / Part of Se Sanduval forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Westcentral Mountains / McKinley Except Nc and Ne / Cibola Except X E / N Catron / X Sw Sanduval / X Nw Bernalillo / X Nw Socorro

When
March 1, 12:01 AM MST to March 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Westcentral Mountains / McKinley Except Nc and Ne / Cibola Except X E / N Catron / X Sw Sanduval / X Nw Bernalillo / X Nw Socorro forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

What these are

Drought
A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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, March 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: 5280624, 5280625, 5280626, 5280627, 5280628, 5280629, 5280630, 5280631, 5280632, 5280633, 5280634, 5280635, 5280636, 5280637, 5280638, 5280639, 5280640, 5280641, 5280723, 5280724, 5280725, 5280726.