Very little rain during the monsoon season pushed the New Mexico bootheel region into Severe(D2) to Extreme(D3) drought.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Very little rain during the monsoon season pushed the New Mexico bootheel region into Severe(D2) to Extreme(D3) drought.
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 18, 11:11 AM MST, 49 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM 1211 PM MDT Tue Aug 18 2020 .AVIATION...18Z TAF CYCLE Light east to southeast winds will persist this afternoon, with much drier air aloft limiting thunderstorm chances to the Gila Region and perhaps northern Hidalgo County. Winds will trend towards drainage flows overnight. 25-Hardiman && .PREV DISCUSSION...520 AM MDT Tue Aug 18 2020... .AVIATION...VFR conditions will prevail at all terminals thru the period. Drier air is moving in aloft and should shut down most of the afternoon storm development. However a few cumulus buildups are still possible after 18Z across area mountains. A few -TSRA over higher terrain could produce gusty outflow of 20 KTS. Otherwise expect FEW-SCT 090-110 with surface winds of less than 10 KTS with a few gusts to 15 KTS between 18Z and 02Z. && .PREV DISCUSSION...343 AM MDT Tue Aug 18 2020... .SYNOPSIS... Upper high persisting over southern Utah and Arizona through the weekend will continue the northeast flow aloft across the Borderland. Though residual moisture will continue through most of this period, the moisture is less pronounced today and Wednesday, allowing for just a few thunderstorms, mostly over the mountains. Moisture increases some for Thursday through Saturday, with an increase in thunderstorms across the entire area. A few of these storms could produce heavy rain and minor flooding. && .DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM...Today and Tonight... The heat producing upper high will continue to sit over southwestern Utah today which will keep our area under northeasterly flow aloft. While this trend managed to drop our high temperatures below the century mark yesterday, we likely will not see any additional cooling across the region today. In general it looks like a persistence forecast will be our best bet today which places us a few degrees higher than guidance. The primary reason for going above guidance is the fact that as opposed to yesterday, drier air will be flowing in on this northeasterly flow. That means a noticeable decrease in convection which will allow for more insolation, thus the slightly warmer forecast than current model runs are offering. Regardless, we are still under the influence of that upper ridge so we will most certainly stay quite warm. With regards to less convection across the area today, models are projecting precipitable water values that generally stay below one inch for all but the higher terrain. As a result CAPE values stay very low for the lowlands with somewhat better values this afternoon over the Gila. Therefore have kept low end pops over the Sacramento's where a few isolated storms could form and placed the best chances for afternoon convection over the Gila region. && .LONG TERM...Wednesday through Monday... This period continues to look like a mixed bag for monsoon moisture and rain across the area. Models continue to show wedge of dry continental air that moved in today will persist on Wednesday, meaning mostly just isolated mountain thunderstorms. PWs will range from 0.7-0.9". Thursday through Saturday...we moisten up a bit as recycled mid/high level moisture rotates back over us as upper high drops down over Arizona. PWs increase to around 0.9-1.1" so expect increase in coverage. Though this only makes PWs around normal, with light flow aloft, believe some storms could produce heavy rain and minor flooding. Sunday and Monday...drying trend begins as upper high flattens in response to mid-latitude storm track dropping south some and migrates to the Four Corners area. This will begin shunting recycled moisture more on an easterly path and bring in drier continental air from our east. Thunderstorm activity should fall back to isolated mountains storms at best. Longer range...GFS shows mid level high reforming over the southeastern Seaboard by Wed/Thu, giving us some weak southerly influence. The problem is the upper level high remains over southern Texas, inhibiting a deeper southerly flow. Unfortunately, the ECMWF keeps the mid level high over southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. && .FIRE WEATHER... While temperatures may have backed off a few degrees, the region will remain under the influence of the heat producing upper ridge through the period. Expect daily highs to run 5 to 10 degrees above normal with the hottest days expected late week as the upper high drifts back over the region. We will continue with mainly isolated storms over the lowlands with scattered storm coverage for the mountains, although today will see a few less storms due to the temporary draw of some drier air aloft into the region. Storms will continue to bring a threat for cloud to ground lightning and gusty erratic winds in their vicinity. Meanwhile, min RH values will continue to be in the teens across the lowlands with values of 20 to 30 percent for the higher elevations. && && && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 97 67 100 73 / 0 0 0 0 Sierra Blanca 90 62 95 64 / 0 0 0 0 Las Cruces 94 63 97 69 / 0 0 0 0 Alamogordo 95 64 97 69 / 0 0 0 10 Cloudcroft 73 51 73 51 / 10 0 20 20 Truth or Consequences 95 66 98 69 / 0 0 0 20 Silver City 90 62 91 64 / 20 20 20 20 Deming 96 62 99 67 / 0 0 0 10 Lordsburg 97 65 100 69 / 0 10 0 20 West El Paso Metro 99 69 100 75 / 0 0 0 0 Dell City 96 64 99 67 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Hancock 97 65 100 70 / 0 0 0 0 Loma Linda 90 64 95 69 / 0 0 0 0 Fabens 96 66 100 72 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Teresa 96 65 99 70 / 0 0 0 0 White Sands HQ 95 66 98 72 / 0 0 0 0 Jornada Range 94 64 96 69 / 0 0 0 10 Hatch 95 64 99 69 / 0 0 0 10 Columbus 97 65 99 70 / 0 0 0 0 Orogrande 95 63 97 69 / 0 0 0 0 Mayhill 82 56 84 58 / 0 0 20 20 Mescalero 84 55 84 56 / 10 0 20 20 Timberon 81 54 82 56 / 0 0 10 10 Winston 89 56 91 57 / 20 10 30 20 Hillsboro 95 62 95 64 / 10 0 10 20 Spaceport 94 63 98 68 / 0 0 0 10 Lake Roberts 90 54 90 57 / 30 20 30 20 Hurley 93 61 93 64 / 10 10 10 20 Cliff 96 63 98 63 / 30 30 20 20 Mule Creek 93 59 94 65 / 30 30 20 20 Faywood 93 61 94 65 / 10 10 10 20 Animas 98 63 100 66 / 0 0 0 10 Hachita 95 62 97 65 / 0 0 0 10 Antelope Wells 95 62 97 64 / 0 0 0 0 Cloverdale 90 62 94 64 / 0 0 0 0 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...None. TX...None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM 1203 PM MDT Tue Aug 18 2020 NMZ401>417-TXZ418>424-191815- 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- 1203 PM MDT Tue Aug 18 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of south central New Mexico, southwest New Mexico, and southwest Texas. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible this afternoon. The best chances will be over the Gila Region, but can't rule out activity drifting down into portions of the lowlands of southwestern New Mexico. Some storms will be capable of producing wind gusts to 45mph and brief heavy downpours. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday Temperatures will start to heat back up to around 100 degrees by mid-week and persist into the weekend. This may cause heat- related problems, especially for those at higher risk and anyone participating in outdoor activities. Additionally, the chance for afternoon isolated to scattered thunderstorms will continue each day. The best chances will remain in the mountains, but storms may also develop over portions of the lowlands into the evening hours. The main threats with these storms will be gusty winds to 45mph and brief periods of heavy rainfall that could lead to minor flooding. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed, though reports are always encouraged.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
On August 18th, the entire zone was placed into Severe(D2) drought and on August 25th, most of the zone was placed into Extreme(D3) drought. The Cooperative Observer at Antelope Wells reported only 0.07 inches of rain which was 2.85 inches below normal.
On August 18th, the entire zone was placed into Severe(D2) drought and on August 25th most of the area was upgraded to Extreme(D3) drought.
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: 915577, 915578.