Showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall developed along the Interstate 40 corridor between Gallup and the Continental Divide. Slow-moving thunderstorms produced 1 to 2 inches of rainfall over already saturated soils in the area.
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 ABQ wrote it up.
Showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall developed along the Interstate 40 corridor between Gallup and the Continental Divide. Slow-moving thunderstorms produced 1 to 2 inches of rainfall over already saturated soils in the area. A particularly intense burst of rainfall to the northeast of Gallup, New Mexico resulted in a flash flood within Superman Canyon. Local law enforcement determined that the body of a man found several miles downstream from a crushed pickup truck was the result of this flash flood.
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 13, 4:47 PM MST, 1 hour 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 547 PM MDT MON JUL 13 2015 .AVIATION... 00Z TAF CYCLE MAIN CONVECTIVE CLUSTER CURRENTLY ALONG I-40 BTWN KGUP...KGNT... AND KABQ. A COLD POOL DEVELOPING WITH THIS ACTIVITY WILL ENHANCE GUSTY OUTFLOW WINDS IN THE AREA THIS EVENING...AND PERHAPS EVEN SPAWN ADDITIONAL STORMS. -SHRA/TSRA EXPECTED TO PERSIST INTO THE OVERNIGHT ALONG AND WEST OF THE CONT DVD...WHILE THE REST OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN NM CLEAR OUT. TOMORROW WILL FEATURE A MUCH GREATER UPTICK IN CONVECTIVE COVERAGE FOR CENTRAL/WESTERN NM W/ LCL HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS LIKELY. GUYER && .PREV DISCUSSION...349 PM MDT MON JUL 13 2015... .SYNOPSIS... WITH UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE TO THE EAST AND A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE TO THE WEST...SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE STREAMING NORTHWARD INTO WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK. SOME DRY AIR ALOFT WILL WORK INTO THE NORTHWEST QUARTER NEW MEXICO WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...LIMITING THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES THERE. THE DRY AIR OVER NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS THE MONSOON MOISTURE PLUME SHIFTS BACK OVER WESTERN NEW MEXICO FRIDAY. && .DISCUSSION... A LATER START TO CONVECTION TODAY AS DRIER AIR ALOFT MOVED INTO CENTRAL NM LAST NIGHT. MAIN DIFFERENCE FROM YESTERDAY FOR THE RGV IS THE LACK OF STORMS TO THE EAST AND THE LOWER POTENTIAL FOR COLLIDING OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES. 18Z NAM12 CONTINUES TO SHOW A BOUNDARY FROM RAIN COOLED OUTFLOW MOVING INTO NE NM THIS EVENING. A FEW STORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP ALONG/NEAR THIS BOUNDARY AS IT MOVES SWD INTO FAR NE NM. AS THE UPPER HIGH RETREATS EWD TUESDAY...THE MOISTURE PLUME AND ASSOCIATED MID LEVEL DEFORMATION/STRETCHING WILL SHIFT BACK OVER CENTRAL NM. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WILL RESULT WEST OF A SOUTH-CENTRAL MOUNTAINS TO NE HIGHLANDS LINE. MAIN THREAT FOR LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING SHOULD BE WEST OF THE RGV WHERE STORM MOTION WILL BE WEAK THROUGH LATE AFTERNOON. MONSOON MOISTURE PLUME LEANS OVER WEDNESDAY...STRETCHING FROM SW TO NE. GFS AND NAM AGREE THAT THURSDAY LOOKS LIKE A RELATIVE DOWN DAY WITH CONVECTION CONFINED MAINLY TO SOUTHWEST NM AND MOUNTAIN AREAS. GFS STILL ON TRACK WITH IDEA OF BRINING A WEAK EASTERLY WAVE NWD THROUGH WRN NM FRIDAY...INCREASING ACTIVITY AGAIN FOR WRN AND POSSIBLY CENTRAL AREAS. LOW CONFIDENCE CONTINUES FOR THE WEEKEND AND BEYOND WITH BIG DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MODEL SOLUTIONS WITH REGARD TO THE UPPER LEVEL LOW/TROUGH EXPECTED TO DROP SOUTH THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. OPERATIONAL GFS BRINGS A MUCH DEEPER TROUGH EWD THROUGH THE GREAT BASIN FORCING THE UPPER HIGH SOUTH AND WEST. ECMWF SEEMS...INITIALLY...LIKE THE MORE PLAUSIBLE MODEL SOLUTION GIVEN THE TIME OF YEAR BUT THE GFS CANNOT BE RULED OUT DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF DEEP CONVECTION IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC AND THE IMPACTS OF THIS INCREASED CONVECTION ON THE POLAR JET/WESTERLIES. 33 && .FIRE WEATHER... THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE IS DOWN TODAY COMPARED TO YESTERDAY... BUT AN UPTICK IS FORECAST TUESDAY AS THE MONSOON MOISTURE PLUME SHIFTS EAST ACROSS CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. INCREASE IN THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE TUESDAY WILL COINCIDE WITH A SLIGHT DOWNTREND IN HIGH TEMPERATURES. WEDNESDAY LOOKS TO BE SIMILAR TO TUESDAY...BUT A GRADUAL DOWNTREND IN STORMS FORECAST TOWARD THE END OF THE WORK WEEK AS THE UPPER HIGH TO THE EAST EXTENDS A RIDGE AXIS FURTHER WEST ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO. THE UPPER HIGH IS FORECAST TO BUILD MORE TO THE WEST OVER THE WEEKEND...FOCUSING STORMS FURTHER WEST AND CORRESPONDING WITH AN INCREASE IN HIGH TEMPERATURES BACK TO NEAR NORMAL WEST AND ABOVE NORMAL EAST. LOWER FORECASTER CONFIDENCE FOR NEXT WEEK WITH THE 12Z GFS AND ECMWF DEPARTING ON THE STRENGTH OF THE UPPER HIGH AND PROGRESSION OF A PACIFIC NW TROUGH ACROSS THE ROCKIES. THE ECMWF SOLUTION WOULD FIT BETTER WITH CLIMATOLOGY AND SHOWS THE MORE DOMINANT UPPER HIGH CENTERED OVER THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 11 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 508 AM MDT MON JUL 13 2015 NMZ501>540-141200- NORTHWEST PLATEAU-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS-FAR NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS- NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS-WEST CENTRAL PLATEAU-WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS- WEST CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS- SAN FRANCISCO RIVER VALLEY-SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-JEMEZ MOUNTAINS- WEST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET/RED RIVER- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET- EAST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS-UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- LOWER CHAMA RIVER VALLEY-SANTA FE METRO AREA- MIDDLE RIO GRANDE VALLEY/ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA- LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY-SANDIA/MANZANO MOUNTAINS-ESTANCIA VALLEY- CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-UPPER TULAROSA VALLEY- SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-RATON RIDGE/JOHNSON MESA- FAR NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-UNION COUNTY- HARDING COUNTY-EASTERN SAN MIGUEL COUNTY-GUADALUPE COUNTY- QUAY COUNTY-CURRY COUNTY-ROOSEVELT COUNTY-DE BACA COUNTY- CHAVES COUNTY PLAINS-EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHWEST CHAVES COUNTY- 508 AM MDT MON JUL 13 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY ACROSS WESTERN NEW MEXICO. SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS...ABUNDANT MOISTURE AND SATURATED SOILS MAY RESULT IN LOCALIZED AREAS OF FLASH FLOODING. A FEW STORMS MAY ALSO BRIEFLY BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL FAVOR CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEW MEXICO ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...THOUGH MAY EXPAND ACROSS NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO AS WELL. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAINFALL OR FLOODING THROUGH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/ABQ OR BY CALLING 1.888.386.7637. YOU CAN ALSO SUBMIT STORM REPORTS AND PHOTOS ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE OR VIA TWITTER USING THE HASHTAG N M W X. 34
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
459 PM MDT MON JUL 13 2015
NMZ507-132330-
WEST CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-
459 PM MDT MON JUL 13 2015
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EAST CENTRAL CIBOLA COUNTY UNTIL
530 PM MDT...
AT 458 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR CUBERO...OR 8 MILES WEST OF LAGUNA PUEBLO.
THIS STORM WAS DRIFTING SLOWLY TOWARD THE NORTHEAST.
HALF INCH HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
STORM.
HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL
ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
LAGUNA PUEBLO...CUBERO...MESITA...NEW LAGUNA...SAN FIDEL...
SKYLINE-GANIPA...SEAMA...PARAJE...PAGUATE AND ACOMITA.
THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 40 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 99 AND 120.
HEAVY RAINS WILL CAUSE WATER TO POND ON ROADS AND IN LOW SPOTS. FAST
RUNNING WATER WILL QUICKLY FILL ARROYOS AND DITCHES.
&&
LAT...LON 3512 10759 3511 10757 3513 10757 3515 10753
3515 10752 3516 10749 3511 10742 3517 10742
3517 10730 3503 10724 3485 10743 3504 10766
TIME...MOT...LOC 2258Z 297DEG 2KT 3502 10751
44The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 167 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:58 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A truck was found crushed by a large boulder at the base of a 30-ft deep arroyo in Superman Canyon. The body of the man operating the vehicle was discovered 3 miles downstream at White Cliff.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood, McKinley | 2015-07-14 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, July 2015
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: 585781.