Hail, San Miguel
- When
- July 7, 4:30 PM MST
- Where
- San Miguel County, 12 mi NW of Romeroville
- Measured
- 1.5 in hail
- Reported by
- FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
- Coordinates
- 35.633, -105.383
Hail in New Mexico, July 7, 2003
An intense thunderstorm which began during late afternoon over San Miguel County west of Las Vegas moved south into eastern Torrance County producing a near continuous swath of 1 to 3 inch hail before collapsing north of Encino. The largest hail occurred northwest of Encino where motorists on Highway 285 reported broken wind shields and other damage.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 5
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.
An intense thunderstorm which began during late afternoon over San Miguel County west of Las Vegas moved south into eastern Torrance County producing a near continuous swath of 1 to 3 inch hail before collapsing north of Encino. The largest hail occurred northwest of Encino where motorists on Highway 285 reported broken wind shields and other damage. The storm developed a brief period of strong rotation in radar images as it moved south over Interstate 40 east of Clines Corners with one possible funnel cloud observed.
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 7, 2:12 PM MST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 2:12 PM MST, 2 hours 18 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 312 PM MDT MON JUL 7 2003 MORE AND MORE LOOKING LIKE THE YEAR OF THE LATE ONSET RAINY SEASON OR...IF YOU PREFER...MONSOON...JUST WHAT WE DO NOT NEED. THE HIGH THAT WOULDN/T MOVE E IS GOING TO BE A HUGELY DOMINANT FEATURE THROUGH THE FCST PERIOD...BECOMING ENTRENCHED AT LEAST FOR AWHILE IN THE VICINITY TO JUST S OF THE 4 CORNERS. NEARER TERM LOOKS LIKE TODAY/S STORM CROP A LITTLE MORE MEAGER THAN LAST DAY OR TWO AND SO FAR ALMOST...BUT NOT QUITE...EXCLUSIVE TO THE SANGRES VICINITY. ONE OR TWO JUST E OF KABQ AND LOS ALAMOS AND THE GILA ALSO TRYING TO FIRE UP A LITTLE BUT STRUGGLING. PREVIOUS GRIDS/FCST LOOKED QUITE GOOD WITH BIGGEST CHANGES MADE TO WINDS IN NE WED INTO THU FOR WHAT APPEARS TO BE WEAK WINDSHIFT/FROPA. THIS VERY UNLIKELY TO PROGRESS ALL THAT FAR S AND W BEFORE FADING AWAY...GIVEN MONSTROUS HIGH OVER NM...BUT DID ACQUIESCE AND GO WITH MORE E/NE WINDS FOR AWHILE MIDWEEK FOR NE. MOISTURE SEEMS SO LIMITED AND ANY UPSLOPE SHALLOW ENOUGH TO PRECLUDE ADDING ANY POPS FOR NOW TO WED OR THU GRIDS... THOUGH DID INCREASE CLOUDS A BIT THERE. MODELS MOS DATA ALSO NOT SUPPORTING POPS. THIS WILL HAVE TO BE MONITORED OF COURSE WITH LATER MODEL RUN TRENDS AND SUCH. WITH NW FLOW DOMINANT IN NE NM THOUGH STILL PRETTY CLOSE TO CENTER OF DOMINANT UPPER HIGH DID EXPAND LOW POPS SLIGHTLY S AND E ACROSS NE NM FRI WHILE TRIMMING THEM IN THE NW. TRIMMED BACK ALSO SAT AND SUN ACROSS NW NM. 43 PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... FARMINGTON................ 058/099 060/100 060 43000 GALLUP.................... 049/096 047/098 051 43000 GRANTS.................... 056/095 055/096 057 43000 GLENWOOD.................. 061/102 060/102 059 43100 CHAMA..................... 044/087 045/089 046 43000 LOS ALAMOS................ 056/090 056/092 059 43100 RED RIVER................. 045/081 045/083 046 43100 TAOS...................... 052/091 052/092 053 43100 SANTA FE.................. 054/092 054/094 057 43100 SANTA FE AIRPORT.......... 056/095 056/097 059 43100 ESPANOLA.................. 055/095 055/097 058 43100 ALBUQUERQUE HEIGHTS....... 068/100 069/101 070 43000 ALBUQUERQUE VALLEY........ 063/103 064/104 065 43000 ALBUQUERQUE FOOTHILLS..... 062/098 063/099 065 43000 ALBUQUERQUE WEST MESA..... 068/101 068/102 070 43000 SOCORRO................... 062/101 063/104 064 43000 SANDIA PARK/CEDAR CREST... 056/090 056/091 058 43100 MORIARTY/ESTANCIA......... 053/093 054/095 055 43100 CARRIZOZO................. 060/098 062/100 062 43100 RUIDOSO................... 054/084 056/086 056 43100 RATON..................... 052/091 052/092 053 43100 LAS VEGAS................. 054/090 055/092 054 43100 ROY....................... 063/095 064/096 064 43100 CLAYTON................... 062/095 064/095 062 43100 SANTA ROSA................ 064/097 065/099 065 43100 TUCUMCARI................. 067/098 067/100 067 43100 FORT SUMNER............... 065/096 067/098 066 43100 CLOVIS.................... 065/095 068/097 066 43100 PORTALES.................. 065/096 068/098 066 43100 ROSWELL................... 067/098 069/101 070 43100 .ABQ...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 7, 5:00 AM MST, 11 hours 30 minutes before
NMZ001>021-026-081200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 600 AM MDT MON JUL 7 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH AND DRY LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...WEATHER CAN CHANGE VERY RAPIDLY. ALWAYS USE THE LATEST FORECASTS... WATCHES AND WARNINGS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The radar
The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 141 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:28 UTC.
Event by event
4 hail, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, San Miguel
- When
- July 7, 5:13 PM MST
- Where
- San Miguel County, Villanueva
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 35.267, -105.367
Funnel Cloud, Torrance
- When
- July 7, 6:20 PM MST
- Where
- Torrance County, 10 mi E of Clines Corners
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 34.641, -105.851 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Hail, Torrance
- When
- July 7, 6:25 PM MST
- Where
- Torrance County, 7 mi SE of Clines Corners
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 34.933, -105.500
Hail, Torrance
- When
- July 7, 6:55 PM MST
- Where
- Torrance County, 10 mi NW of Encino
- Measured
- 2.5 in hail
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 34.750, -105.567
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Oklahoma, July 7, 2003
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Ohio, July 7 to 8, 2003
- Hail in Iowa, July 7, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Ohio, July 7, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, July 7, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Indiana, July 7 to 8, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 7, 2003
- Flood in Ohio, July 7 to 13, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Nebraska, July 7, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Minnesota, July 7, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Iowa, July 7, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Illinois, July 7, 2003
More
Every storm in New Mexico in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, July 2003
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: 5375447, 5375448, 5375451, 5375449, 5375450.