A deep trough was digging into the Desert Southwest with a surface trough located across West Texas providing the lift and shear for severe thunderstorms.
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 deep trough was digging into the Desert Southwest with a surface trough located across West Texas providing the lift and shear for severe thunderstorms.
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 29, 1:44 PM MST, 6 hours 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 244 PM MDT SUN AUG 29 2010 .SYNOPSIS... MOIST UNSTABLE AIR WILL FLOW INTO SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO AND WESTERN TEXAS WHILE AN UPPER DISTURBANCE APPROACHES THE REGION. AS A RESULT THERE WILL BE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING DRIER WEATHER WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY BEFORE A COLD FRONT CAUSES INCREASING SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. && .DISCUSSION... NEW MEXICO AND WESTERN TEXAS WILL REMAIN LOCATED BETWEEN DEEP TROUGH WEST OF THE DIVIDE AND RIDGE ACROSS THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THROUGH TUESDAY WITH RESULTANT FLOW TRAJECTORIES ADVECTING ABUNDANT LOW AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE REGION FROM THE SOUTH. THUS SURFACE DEWPOINTS WILL BE AROUND 55 TO 60 MOST LOCATIONS WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER RANGING FROM 1.2 TO 1.5 INCHES ACROSS THE LOWLANDS WITH HIGHEST VALUES IN THE SOUTHEAST. COMBINATION OF HEATING AND MOISTURE SHOULD SUPPORT SOME INSTABILITY WITH AFTERNOON CAPES GENERALLY 500 TO 1000 J/KG. THUS THREAT OF DEEP CONVECTION WILL PERSIST INTO TUESDAY. LIFTING MECHANISMS REMAIN THE PRIMARY UNCERTAINTY BUT AREAS OF UPSLOPE SHOULD INDUCE UPDRAFTS OVER THE MOUNTAINS WITH A LACK OF INHIBITION INDICATING SURFACE HEATING INITIATING AT LEAST A FEW LOWLAND STORMS WITH ATTENDANT OUTFLOWS SUSTAINING ACTIVITY OTHER LOCATIONS. THE ONGOING PATTERN IS FAVORABLE FOR WEAK THOUGH SOMETIMES UNDETECTABLE UPPER WAVES TO MOVE INTO THE CWA FROM THE SOUTH. FINALLY WEAK SURFACE TROUGH WILL ALSO EXTEND INTO THE CWA CAUSING WEAK CONVERGENCE. FOR THESE REASONS WILL FORECAST SCATTERED CONVECTION MOST LOCATIONS THROUGH TUESDAY WITH HEAVY RAINS THE PRIMARY WEATHER THREAT. HOWEVER WIND SHEAR WILL INCREASE WITH MID LEVEL SPEEDS NEAR 40 MPH INDICATING ISOLATED STORMS PRODUCING NEAR SEVERE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS NEAR 60 MPH. TROUGH WILL LIFT SLOWLY NORTH LATE TUESDAY WHILE UPPER RIDGE BUILDS WESTWARD ACROSS THE CWA. ASSOCIATED SUBSIDENCE/WARMING ALOFT SHOULD BRING DRIER WEATHER/LESS ACTIVITY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. MODELS HAVE SHOWN GOOD CONSISTENCY IN MOVING RATHER STRONG COLD FRONT SOUTHWARD INTO SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO/WESTERN TEXAS LATE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH BOUNDARY STALLING NEAR THE MEXICAN BORDER. ASSOCIATED LIFT SHOULD GENERATE INCREASING RISK OF STORMS LATER PERIODS. && .AVIATION...VALID 30/00Z-31/00Z... SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE CONTINUES TO STREAM INTO THE AREA FROM THE SOUTHWEST WITH A FEW EMBEDDED IMPULSES TO DESTABILIZE IT THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. GENLY VFR THROUGH THE PD...SCT-BKN040-080 SCT-BKN 100-150 AND 200-250 AGL. WITH A FEW BKN100 -SHRA DEVELOP. ISOLD TO SCT MVFR ISOLD BRIEF IFR AREAS BKN030CB HGTS AGL VSBY 2-3 MI +TSRAGS WND VRB 30G40KT. MAX CB TOPS 420-470. && .FIRE WEATHER... WITH A LOW PRESSURE TROUGH TO THE WEST AND SUBTROPICAL HIGH PRESSURE TO THE EAST OF THE BORDERLAND...SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO TRANSPORT MOIST UNSTABLE AIR INTO NEW MEXICO AND FAR WEST TEXAS THROUGH TUESDAY. THIS SCENARIO WILL GENERATE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DURING THIS PERIOD WITH A FEW STORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL REBUILD BACK OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST WEDNESDAY AND BEYOND...WITH ENOUGH RESIDUAL MOISTURE ALLOWING ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE INTO NEXT WEEKEND. MIN RH VALUES THROUGH MONDAY WILL RANGE IN THE 30% TO 40% IN THE LOW LANDS TO THE 50% TO 60% RANGE ABOVE 7000 FEET WITH THE HAINES INDEX STAYING CONSTANT AT THE 3 CATEGORY. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... EL PASO 70 90 71 90 70 / 40 30 40 40 40 SIERRA BLANCA TX 66 92 65 88 68 / 40 30 40 40 40 LAS CRUCES 68 89 68 88 68 / 40 30 40 40 40 ALAMOGORDO 66 87 65 88 66 / 30 30 40 40 40 CLOUDCROFT 50 67 50 68 49 / 40 40 50 40 40 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES 66 87 67 86 66 / 30 20 30 30 30 SILVER CITY 57 80 58 81 59 / 30 20 30 30 30 DEMING 66 89 67 88 66 / 30 20 30 30 30 LORDSBURG 67 89 67 89 67 / 30 10 20 20 30 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...NONE. TX...NONE. && 05 ROGASH/20 NOVLAN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 227 PM MDT SUN AUG 29 2010 NMZ022>025-030>032-TXZ055-056-301715- 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- 227 PM MDT SUN AUG 29 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS POSSIBLE WITH ISOLATED LOCATIONS RECEIVING UP TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN. THUS FLOODING MAY OCCUR OVER A FEW AREAS. A FEW STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE HAIL UP TO AN INCH DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...WITH HEAVY RAIN AND LOCAL FLOODING POSSIBLE. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AGAIN POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ANY OBSERVED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OR FLOODING TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THIS OFFICE. ROGASH
The El Paso radar (KEPZ), 142 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:00 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Power was knocked out in Dell City for more than 12 hours after wind blew the phase off of a transmission pole a mile and a half north of Highway 62/180. In addition 1 to 2 inches of rain also fell across the area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2010
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: 256911.