A near normal precipitation month in August kept northern Grant County in Severe(D2) drought conditions.
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.
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 near normal precipitation month in August kept northern Grant County in Severe(D2) drought conditions.
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 Jul 31, 1:42 PM MST, 10 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa NM 242 PM MDT Tue Jul 31 2018 .SYNOPSIS... After an active weather day in the Borderland Monday, today has been relatively quiet so far as the atmosphere is more stable. However, the atmosphere will recover Wednesday which will begin several days with isolated to scattered thunderstorms. Localized flooding is possible with a few of the storms. There are signs that early next week will become a little drier with fewer storms. && .DISCUSSION... In spite of plenty of moisture available today, low level cooling as a result of yesterday's storms and a weak backdoor front have made today somewhat quiet (at least for the end of July). However, the upper high will slide southward a little into Arizona and become oriented along a more north-south axis, which is more favorable for upper impulses to drop southward over our CWA. Thus tomorrow should be more convectively active, and this scenario should hold into the weekend. In fact, the upper high eventually weakens a little and shifts westward to leave us between upper highs --- a great setup for a subtropical moisture plume Friday night. Should this actually occur it could be quite active area wide Friday night. The pattern continues to transition with the upper high eventually becoming re-established over the Four Corners region beyond this forecast period. During this process a drier continental mid level flow takes over Sunday night into early next week resulting in fewer storms. That's just temporary, though, as the 12z GFS hints at northerly flow with recycled monsoon moisture (the story of the 2018 monsoon for NM?) and embedded impulses making a comeback late next week. && .AVIATION...Valid 01/00Z-02/00Z... High pressure aloft over AZ and ample low/mid level moisture will allow for isold to sct tstms Tues evening and Wed aftn. General sky conditions FEW-SCT060 SCT-BKN 100-140 AND 200-250. Fm 00Z-04Z and 21Z-00Z isold to sct areas VRB25G35Kt 6SM -TSRA BKN060 esply nr mtns. General winds SE8G15KT until 06Z then SSW 5-10KT. Gnrl tstm movmt to SSW at 15KT. .FIRE WEATHER... A few thunderstorms this morning for the Sacramento Mountains may delay afternoon re-development by a few hours. Overall expect thunderstorms today will favor the higher terrain, especially the Gila Region, with more widespread activity expected Wednesday and Thursday. RH values will continue to increase, with excellent overnight recovery, especially in the higher terrain where wetting rain will be more widespread. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 74 96 75 98 / 20 10 30 20 Sierra Blanca 68 94 71 95 / 20 10 20 20 Las Cruces 69 93 70 95 / 20 10 20 20 Alamogordo 69 93 71 93 / 30 20 40 30 Cloudcroft 53 71 55 72 / 30 50 50 50 Truth or Consequences 69 92 70 93 / 30 30 40 40 Silver City 64 86 64 88 / 40 40 50 50 Deming 69 94 70 96 / 20 20 30 30 Lordsburg 71 93 71 94 / 40 20 40 30 West El Paso Metro 72 95 74 97 / 20 10 30 20 Dell City 69 96 72 98 / 10 20 30 20 Fort Hancock 71 97 73 99 / 20 10 20 30 Loma Linda 67 92 69 92 / 20 20 30 20 Fabens 70 96 72 98 / 20 10 20 20 Santa Teresa 71 94 73 96 / 20 10 30 20 White Sands HQ 71 93 71 94 / 20 20 40 30 Jornada Range 68 94 68 95 / 20 20 40 30 Hatch 69 94 69 95 / 30 20 30 20 Columbus 71 95 72 96 / 20 10 30 20 Orogrande 70 94 72 95 / 20 20 30 20 Mayhill 58 79 59 80 / 30 60 50 50 Mescalero 58 80 60 81 / 30 40 50 40 Timberon 58 79 60 79 / 30 60 40 50 Winston 59 86 60 87 / 40 60 50 60 Hillsboro 65 88 66 92 / 30 40 40 50 Spaceport 67 92 68 94 / 30 20 40 20 Lake Roberts 56 84 58 86 / 50 50 50 60 Hurley 63 88 65 90 / 30 40 40 50 Cliff 63 92 64 93 / 40 40 40 40 Mule Creek 65 90 65 92 / 50 30 40 50 Faywood 66 89 66 91 / 30 30 30 50 Animas 69 94 71 95 / 40 10 40 20 Hachita 70 94 70 95 / 30 20 30 20 Antelope Wells 67 93 68 94 / 30 10 30 30 Cloverdale 66 89 67 91 / 30 30 40 40 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...None. TX...None. && 01/20 Fausett/Novlan (many decades of wisdom)
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa NM 1148 AM MDT Tue Jul 31 2018 NMZ401>417-TXZ418>424-011800- Upper Gila River Valley-Southern Gila Highlands/Black Range- Southern Gila Foothills/Mimbres Valley- Southwest Desert/Lower Gila River Valley-Lowlands of the Bootheel- Uplands of the Bootheel-Southwest Desert/Mimbres Basin- Eastern Black Range Foothills-Sierra County Lakes- Northern Dona Ana County-Southern Dona Ana County/Mesilla Valley- Central Tularosa Basin-Southern Tularosa Basin- West Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet- Sacramento Mountains Above 7500 Feet- East Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet-Otero Mesa- Western El Paso County-Eastern/Central El Paso County- Northern Hudspeth Highlands/Hueco Mountains-Salt Basin- Southern Hudspeth Highlands- Rio Grande Valley of Eastern El Paso/Western Hudspeth Counties- Rio Grande Valley of Eastern Hudspeth County- 1148 AM MDT Tue Jul 31 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of south central New Mexico, southwest New Mexico, and southwest Texas. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight After an active day Monday, there should be less thunderstorm activity today over most of the area. The exception would be the Gila region where thunderstorms could be numerous during the afternoon and evening with locally heavy rainfall and the potential for localized flooding. The Sacramento Mountains may also have scattered storms late in the afternoon. Elsewhere storms will be more isolated. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday Isolated lowland and scattered mountain thunderstorms into the weekend, with occasional upswings in activity as disturbances move southward over the area. During these upswings flooding will become more of a threat, especially over areas which recently received significant rainfall. Some drying and less storm activity may occur on Monday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters may be required to report heavy rain and flooding...hail and damaging wind gusts. Fausett
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service El Paso TX 704 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2018 NMZ412-010145- Central Tularosa Basin NM- 704 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2018 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHWESTERN OTERO AND EASTERN SIERRA COUNTIES UNTIL 745 PM MDT... At 703 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 8 miles west of Three Rivers, moving southwest at 15 mph. Nickel size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this storm. This storm will remain over mainly rural areas of northwestern Otero and eastern Sierra Counties. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe shelter inside a building or vehicle. && LAT...LON 3312 10615 3328 10644 3339 10631 3339 10606 TIME...MOT...LOC 0103Z 042DEG 15KT 3334 10622 DENNHARDT
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service El Paso TX
758 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2018
NMZ409-412-010230-
Central Tularosa Basin NM-Sierra County Lakes NM-
758 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2018
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHWESTERN OTERO AND
NORTHEASTERN SIERRA COUNTIES UNTIL 830 PM MDT...
At 758 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 21
miles northwest of Three Rivers, moving southwest at 10 mph.
Dime size hail and winds in excess of 45 mph will be possible with
this storm.
This storm will remain over mainly rural areas of northwestern Otero
and northeastern Sierra Counties.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm.
Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe
shelter inside a building or vehicle.
&&
LAT...LON 3339 10637 3339 10632 3330 10641 3348 10670
3348 10638
TIME...MOT...LOC 0158Z 039DEG 10KT 3349 10638
DENNHARDTThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe(D2) drought conditions remained in place across the northern half of the zone. The Gila Hot Springs Cooperative Observer reported 1.78 inches of rain which was 0.14 inches below normal.
No change in the drought conditions across the area with Severe(D2) drought remaining across the northwest section of the zone.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, August 2018
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: 780185, 780187.