An upper trough provided dynamics and a veering vertical wind shear profile that led to severe mulitcell and supercell thunderstorms. This resulted in flash flooding and hail up to golfball size in southern New Mexico.
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.
An upper trough provided dynamics and a veering vertical wind shear profile that led to severe mulitcell and supercell thunderstorms. This resulted in flash flooding and hail up to golfball size in southern New Mexico.
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 20, 2:09 PM MST, 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 309 PM MDT WED AUG 20 2008 .SYNOPSIS... MODERATE MOISTURE LEVELS AND AN UPPER-LEVEL SHORTWAVE PASSING OVER THE REGION THIS EVENING WILL WORK WITH DAYTIME HEATING TO PRODUCE SCATTERED EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. TOMORROW A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER NEW MEXICO WILL WARM TEMPERATURES AND DRY OUT THE ATMOSPHERE. THIS WILL TEND TO INHIBIT MOST OR ALL STORM ACTIVITY FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. BY SUNDAY AND ESPECIALLY EARLY NEXT WEEK MOISTURE WORKS BACK INTO THE REGION TO AGAIN INCREASE THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES ACROSS THE REGION. && .DISCUSSION... WATER VAPOR SHOWS A NICELY DEFINED SHORTWAVE DISTURBANCE WORKING FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE REGION TODAY. DESPITE SOMEWHAT LOWER ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE OVER THE REGION...THIS SYSTEM IS WORKING EFFICIENTLY WITH OROGRAPHIC AND THERMAL LIFTING AT LOW LEVELS TO PRODUCE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE GILA HIGH COUNTRY AND THE BLACK RANGE. EXPECT MORE DEVELOPMENT TO WORK SE INTO THE HILLS AND LOWLANDS OF LUNA...DONA ANA...OTERO...EL PASO...AND HUDSPETH COUNTIES LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS. PROG MODELS SOUNDINGS INDICATE ENOUGH MOISTURE AND HEATING TO DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE...AND THE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT OF THE SHORTWAVE SHOULD ENHANCE DEVELOPMENT. EXPECT THAT A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE. ALREADY GOT A STRONG STORM RESULTING IN A REPORT OF 1/2 HAIL OVER SAN LORENZO. THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILDS OVER NEW MEXICO OUT OF THE SW. THIS WILL HELP TO BOTH DRY OUT AND WARM UP THE ATMOSPHERE. LOWLAND TEMPS WILL RISE INTO THE UPPER 90S. CHANCES FOR RAIN AND STORMS WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIMINISHED FOR THOSE THREE DAYS. LATE IN THE WEEKEND THE UPPER HIGH RETREATS BACK TO THE SOUTHWEST OVER SOUTHERN AZ. RESULTING NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT SHOWS THE POTENTIAL TO STEER UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCES OVER THE AREA. IN ADDITION LOW AND MID LEVEL SE-E FLOW ADVECTS MOISTURE BACK INTO THE REGION...ESPECIALLY THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWFA. THUS EXPECT AN INCREASE IN STORM CHANCES AND AREAL COVERAGE BEGINNING MONDAY. && .AVIATION... VALID 21/0000Z - 22/0000Z AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...MOST EASILY ANALYZED UP AROUND 300 MB OR SO...WILL SWEEP ACROSS NM THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. AS OF 20Z... ALREADY SEEING RAPID CONVECTIVE GROWTH OVER THE GILA. 12Z NAM AND U OF AZ WRF SUGGEST CONVECTION WILL PUSH SOUTH AND EAST INTO THE DESERTS THIS EVENING. 12Z RAOB INDICATES MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER EPZ... AND GPS PWAT VALUES SUGGEST NO SIGNIFICANT DRYING HAS OCCURRED SINCE THEN. SO WHILE CONDITIONS WILL MAINLY BE VFR... EXPECT A WINDOW FROM ABOUT 21-03Z WHERE THUNDERSTORMS COULD AFFECT THE LOWLANDS. DMN/TCS WOULD BE EARLIEST...LRU/ELP LATER. DRIER AIRMASS SHOULD RESULT IN DECREASE IN COVERAGE FOR LATER IN THE WEEK. && .FIRE WEATHER... UPPER DISTURBANCE HIGH ALOFT WILL SWEEP ACROSS NM THROUGH THIS EVENING... ALREADY RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD TSRA OVER AN ALREADY SATURATED GILA NATL FOREST. MODELS AND OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST STORMS WILL LIKELY SURVIVE INTO THE DESERT LOWLANDS THIS EVENING... HELPED ALONG BY UPPER FORCING. DRIER CONDITIONS AND WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL SET IN FOR THE END OF THE WEEK...WITH MIN RH VALUES POSSIBLY DROPPING BELOW 20 PERCENT BY FRI AFTERNOON. BY THE WEEKEND... NORTHEASTERLY FLOW ALOFT SHOULD BRING INCREASING CONVECTIVE COVERAGE TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...WHILE IT MAY TAKE A BIT LONGER FOR THE LOWLANDS TO MOISTEN BACK UP. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... EL PASO 69 96 72 98 73 / 30 10 10 10 0 SIERRA BLANCA TX 64 93 66 95 67 / 30 10 10 10 0 LAS CRUCES 67 96 69 98 70 / 30 10 10 10 0 ALAMOGORDO 67 93 69 95 69 / 30 10 10 10 0 CLOUDCROFT 49 75 51 77 50 / 30 20 20 20 10 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES 67 93 65 96 68 / 30 10 10 10 0 SILVER CITY 60 90 61 91 63 / 20 10 10 10 10 DEMING 67 95 68 97 68 / 20 10 10 10 0 LORDSBURG 66 95 67 97 67 / 20 10 10 10 0 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...NONE. TX...NONE. && 14/25 BIRD/HARDIMAN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 1100 AM MDT WED AUG 20 2008 NMZ022>025-030>032-TXZ055-056-211715- 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- 1100 AM MDT WED AUG 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE LOWLANDS. THE STRONGEST STORMS COULD PRODUCE 60 MPH WIND GUSTS AND NICKEL SIZE HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY GENERALLY STORM-FREE DAYS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. ONLY VERY SLIGHT CHANCES FOR RAIN THOSE DAYS AS STRONG HIGH PRESSURE CENTERS OVER NEW MEXICO. SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MOISTURE LEVELS INCREASE A BIT AS THE UPPER HIGH SHIFTS WESTS. THIS SHOULD ALLOW A RETURN OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND ISOLATED OVER THE LOWLANDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT HAZARDOUS WEATHER TO THIS OFFICE OR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. BIRD
The El Paso radar (KEPZ), 163 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:22 UTC.
2 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Aklan Hill Road was closed north of Mimbres due to flooding. A water rescue was performed.
Cain Road was impassable due to flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, August 2008
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: 134123, 134125, 134124.