A slow moving upper trough moved into a very moist and unstable air mass. Meanwhile a strong outflow boundary from an earlier thunderstorm cluster pushed westward across the area and triggered thunderstorms which were efficient rain producers.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS EPZ wrote it up.
A slow moving upper trough moved into a very moist and unstable air mass. Meanwhile a strong outflow boundary from an earlier thunderstorm cluster pushed westward across the area and triggered thunderstorms which were efficient rain producers.
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 Aug 2, 2:46 AM MST, 8 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 346 AM MDT THU AUG 2 2007 .SYNOPSIS... A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS WILL GENERATE SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL TODAY AND FRIDAY. FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE IN SOME FLOOD PRONE AREAS NEAR THUNDERSTORMS. DRIER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE WEEKEND AS MUCH OF THE MOISTURE SHIFTS TO THE WEST. DAY TIME TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMALS THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS...THEN WARM TO SEASONAL AVERAGES BY THE END OF THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... AN EXTREMELY MOIST AIR MASS REMAINS IN PLACE OVER THE FORECAST AREA WITH SATURATED CONDITIONS EXISTING FROM LOWER TO UPPER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. HELPING TO DESTABILIZE THE AIR AND TRIGGER CONVECTION IS AN UPPER VORT CENTER THAT IS DRIFTING SLOWLY WEST ACROSS THE REGION WITH ANOTHER APPROACHING FROM THE EAST TO KEEP THE WEATHER PATTERN ACTIVE THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. PWS RANGE FROM 1.5 TO 1.8 INCHES WITH SURFACE DEW POINTS IN THE MID TO UPPER SIXTIES. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT FORM TODAY WILL BE VERY EFFICIENT RAIN PRODUCERS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL IN LESS THAN AN HOUR. FLOODING FROM EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM INTENSE RAINFALL IS A POSSIBILITY TODAY...SO WILL MAINTAIN A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. MOIST CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST ON FRIDAY AND THE WATCH MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED ONE MORE DAY. DRIER CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY AS THE MODELS PROJECT THE HIGH TO SHIFT TO THE TEXAS PANHANDLE AND THE VORT CENTERS MOVE INTO ARIZONA...ALONG WITH MUCH OF THE MOISTURE. ISOLATED LOWLAND AND SCATTERED MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE AS A RESULT OF RESIDUAL MOISTURE. PRECIP TOTALS WILL BE MOSTLY HIGHER WEST OF THE DIVIDE. ALSO...WITH REDUCE MOISTURE AND CLOUDINESS OCCURRING...TEMPERATURES SHOULD ALSO WARM UP TO NEAR NORMAL FOR THE WEEKENDS AND INTO NEXT WEEK. THE WEATHER PATTERN COULD BECOME ACTIVE AGAIN THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK AS LONGER RANGE MODELS ARE PROJECTING A SMALL UPPER LOW TO MOVE TOWARD THE REGION FROM THE SOUTHWEST. THIS LOW COULD PROVIDE SYNOPTIC SCALE FORCING AND LIFT AS WELL AS A VEERING PROFILE NECESSARY TO GENERATE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS FOR MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY. MOISTURE FROM THE PLUME WILL FUEL THESE NEW STORMS. HIGH PRESSURE IS PROJECTED BY THE MODELS TO REBUILD TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK...DIMINISHING CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY SOMEWHAT. && .AVIATION...VALID 02/12Z-03/12Z AREAS OF MVFR AND IFR OR CIGS AND VSBY IN AND NEAR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LOW CIGS NEAR TSTMS WILL OCNLY HAVE MTN TOPS OBSCD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... EL PASO 89 70 87 69 92 / 50 50 40 40 20 SIERRA BLANCA TX 85 65 84 63 90 / 50 50 40 40 20 LAS CRUCES 89 67 88 66 91 / 50 50 40 40 20 ALAMOGORDO 87 66 86 64 90 / 50 50 40 40 20 CLOUDCROFT 69 50 67 49 71 / 60 60 50 40 30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES 87 67 86 65 91 / 50 50 40 40 30 SILVER CITY 80 63 81 61 84 / 50 50 40 40 30 DEMING 89 68 86 66 91 / 50 50 40 40 20 LORDSBURG 88 67 86 65 90 / 50 50 40 40 30 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR NMZ022>025-030>032. TX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR TXZ055-056. && 04/04
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 1040 AM MDT THU AUG 2 2007 NMZ022>025-030>032-TXZ055-056-031745- SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS/LOWER GILA REGION-SIERRA COUNTY LAKES REGION- TULAROSA BASIN/SOUTHERN DESERT-SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS- SOUTHWEST DESERT/BOOTHEEL-SOUTHWEST DESERT/MIMBRES BASIN- SOUTHERN DESERT-EL PASO-HUDSPETH- 1040 AM MDT THU AUG 2 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT WITH HEAVY RAINFALL LIKELY IN SOME AREAS. ISOLATED AREAS COULD RECEIVE TWO TO THREE INCHES...WITH FLOODING POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BECOMING ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH THREAT OF FLOODING DECREASING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY...ESPECIALLY TO MONITOR HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODING.
The El Paso radar (KEPZ), 27 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:00 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
About 2 inches of rain fell in less than an hour over the western and downtown portions of El Paso. This caused major street flooding with numerous car rescues required. Rock slides occurred and and a few vehicles were submerged.
Two inches of rain fell within 30 minutes in Socorro. A couple of roads were closed and a home was flooded with knee-deep water.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2007
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: 58261, 58349.