A persistent area of high pressure over southern New Mexico allowed showers and thunderstorms to fire up along the Continental Divide during the afternoon then drift east into the Rio Grande Valley through the early evening hours. The airmass in place over the region was rather dry for mid August and many storms produced strong, erratic wind gusts.
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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.
A persistent area of high pressure over southern New Mexico allowed showers and thunderstorms to fire up along the Continental Divide during the afternoon then drift east into the Rio Grande Valley through the early evening hours. The airmass in place over the region was rather dry for mid August and many storms produced strong, erratic wind gusts. A brief storm that drifted into the Albuquerque metro area produced a brief wind gust up to 58 mph along with blowing dust.
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 Aug 12, 5:02 PM MST, 28 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 602 PM MDT Wed Aug 12 2020 .AVIATION... 00Z TAF CYCLE Showers and thunderstorms headed east toward KABQ and KAEG early this evening expected to produce strong outflow winds, some reductions in vsby from blowing dust and little in the way of rainfall. Isolated storms forecast elsewhere until an hour or two after sunset. A very similar weather scenario is forecast Thursday with mainly isolated convection during the afternoon favoring the southern half of the state. 33 && .PREV DISCUSSION...310 PM MDT Wed Aug 12 2020... .SYNOPSIS... Dry, hot, and unstable conditions continue with near record to record heat across the eastern plains today through Saturday. Virga and isolated dry storms across west-central NM today will gradually evolve to isolated to scattered storms generally moving south off the northern high terrain through eastern and central NM Friday and Saturday. The record heat across the eastern plains breaks Sunday with sub-100F highs. Storm activity will continue to favor the high terrain moving south to southeast Sunday into early next week. && .DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT)... Anticyclonic belt of westerlies over the area; upper-level ridge axis aligned west-east across far southern NM at 500mb or just south of the international border at 300mb. Mid- to upper-level high center forecast to migrate a little farther north on Thursday. Gradual but steady moistening, especially in the middle levels of the troposphere, evident past 24-hours along the western periphery of the 500-700mb mean high center. Surface dew points across the central and west have also begun to slowly recover after yesterday's significant drying event, while boundary layer moisture has trended downward significantly to the lee of the Sangre de Cristo to far northeast plains. Even so, unseasonably dry for early August. Increased moisture supporting isolated-scattered higher based SHRA/- TSRA over/near the SW and SC high terrain with rather anemic buildups noted elsewhere and lone thunderstorm over extreme SE Roosevelt County vicinity of surface trough. Wetting footprints will be small, regardless. Gusty outflow may impact population centers along the RGV early evening. Few sprinkles to linger from the mid- level cloudiness during the overnight after diurnal processes shut down but blended guidance once again too aggressive with wetting footprints between 06Z-18Z Thursday. Otherwise, another hot to sizzling day on Thursday with dry condtions persisting for a vast majority of the area. When it's dry in August, it's usually excessively hot and that, unfortunately, is the screaming message. LONG TERM...(FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)... The upper high by Friday begins its migration over AZ with mid-level moisture still tracking around its northern periphery into the Rockies. PoPs have trended high with the ECMWF continuing to also trend higher in PWATs toward the GFS in the 0.70"-1.00" range. With the upper high west of NM, steering flow will generally take any storms off the high terrain S/SE. This same overall setup holds true Saturday. By Sunday the high moves northward over the Great Basin area and builds to climatological maximums in strength, with numerical and ensemble runs both depicting a 596-598dm H5 center. Thankfully the high will be centered northwest of NM, with northerly steering flow continuing over NM, bringing any storms developing off the high terrain southward over mostly eastern and central NM. Despite this setup usually favoring backdoor intrusions moving down along the Front Range, numerical models are not depicting any such intrusions. That being said, there is a steady nudge westward of southerly return flow bringing some surface Gulf moisture into eastern NM. Overall, this pattern trends temperatures lower across the eastern plains to below the 100F threshold heading into next week. 41/24 && .FIRE WEATHER... An unseasonably hot, dry and unstable air mass will continue to dominate the area through Thursday with only subtle changes expected. High pressure aloft centered over southern New Mexico will gradually migrate northward on Friday before shifting west of the state in time for the weekend and early next week. Unfortunately, this upper air pattern will not favor any monsoon burst pattern in the foreseeable future. As the upper high strengthens over the Great Basin Sunday-Tuesday, a north to south steering flow could bring a boot in storm coverage for mainly areas along and east of the central mountain chain and there could be a warm season backdoor front that could come into play during this period but latest medium range guidance not as promising as yesterday. There will be a growing concern for at least isolated dry lightning Friday into the weekend. Temperatures will be above to well above average through the period. Ventilation rates will be very good to excellent. 41 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Heat Advisory until 8 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ238. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 300 AM MDT Wed Aug 12 2020 NMZ201>241-131100- Northwest Plateau-Chuska Mountains-Far Northwest Highlands- Northwest Highlands-West Central Plateau-West Central Mountains- West Central Highlands-Southwest Mountains- San Francisco River Valley-Tusas Mountains Including Chama- Jemez Mountains-Glorieta Mesa Including Glorieta Pass- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains- East Slopes Sangre de Cristo Mountains-Upper Rio Grande Valley- Espanola Valley-Santa Fe Metro Area- Middle Rio Grande Valley/Albuquerque Metro Area- Lower Rio Grande Valley-Sandia/Manzano Mountains Including Edgewood- Estancia Valley-Central Highlands-South Central Highlands- Upper Tularosa Valley-South Central Mountains- Johnson and Bartlett Mesas Including Raton Pass- 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- San Agustin Plains and Adjacent Lowlands- 300 AM MDT Wed Aug 12 2020 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of north and central New Mexico. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Hot temperatures are in store today with near to record breaking heat across much of central and eastern NM. A Heat Advisory is in effect for the Chaves County Plains from 1 PM to 8 PM MDT. Isolated thunderstorms will be possible across the southwest and northern mountains. However, these thunderstorms will remain dry with gusty, erratic winds most likely. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday Near to record breaking heat is expected again on Thursday with triple digit heat continuing across portions of the plains. Dry thunderstorms with gusty, erratic winds will continue for the southwest and northern high terrain as well. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated. 15
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
552 PM MDT Wed Aug 12 2020
NMZ207-219-130015-
West Central Highlands-Middle Rio Grande Valley/Albuquerque Metro
Area-
552 PM MDT Wed Aug 12 2020
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EAST CENTRAL CIBOLA...
NORTHWESTERN VALENCIA AND BERNALILLO COUNTIES UNTIL 615 PM MDT...
At 550 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking outflow from showers and
thunderstorms along a line extending from 14 miles west of Paradise
Hills to near Isleta Pueblo. Movement was northeast at 10 mph.
Winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with these storms.
Locations impacted include...
Albuquerque, Valencia, Los Lunas, Belen, Los Ranchos De Albuquerque,
Bosque Farms, Peralta, Isleta Pueblo, Paradise Hills and South
Valley.
This includes the following highways...
Interstate 40 between Mile Markers 129 and 167.
Interstate 25 between Mile Markers 193 and 229.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Blowing dust associated with thunderstorm winds may reduce
visibilities below one mile at times.
&&
LAT...LON 3522 10669 3504 10646 3466 10680 3491 10721
3522 10692
TIME...MOT...LOC 2350Z 225DEG 7KT 3512 10694 3490 10662
GuyerThe Albuquerque radar (KABX), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:32 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A brief thunderstorm at the Albuquerque Sunport produced a downburst wind gust up to 58 mph along with blowing dust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, August 2020
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: 902387.