A persistent pattern with northwest flow aloft combined with return flow across eastern New Mexico continued on August 3, 2020. With deep shear, instability, and moisture still in place across the area, another day with isolated severe thunderstorms occurred.
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.
A persistent pattern with northwest flow aloft combined with return flow across eastern New Mexico continued on August 3, 2020. With deep shear, instability, and moisture still in place across the area, another day with isolated severe thunderstorms occurred. The strongest storms occurred across the northeastern corner of the state where hail, strong downburst winds, frequent lightning, and heavy downpours were observed. Two inch hail was reported near Buena Vista. A peak thunderstorm wind gust of 61 mph was recorded in Raton.
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 3, 2:03 PM MST, 53 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 303 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020 .SYNOPSIS... Another active afternoon and evening is in store for the Land of Enchantment today and tonight, with strong to severe thunderstorms east of the central mountain chain. These storms will be capable of strong wind gusts, small hail, locally heavy downpours, and frequent lightning. The high pressure then slides toward northern New Mexico/ southwestern New Mexico, with slim rain chances and above normal temperatures for Tuesday. A weaker monsoon plume develops mid to late week, with drier storms and warmer temperatures through the weekend. && .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT)... The upper high center has drifted over western New Mexico this afternoon and will continue to slowly move to south central New Mexico by early Wednesday morning. This will result in fewer showers and storms tonight through Tuesday night, especially west of the Rio Grande Valley. Some of the activity may be drier as well with gusty winds but little to no rain. Highs Tuesday will be a few degrees warmer than average. Lows tonight and Tuesday night will be near to above average for the majority of the forecast area. The marginal risk for severe storms remains over much of eastern New Mexico this afternoon and evening but a watch is not anticipated at this time. Consequently did not mention severe storms specifically in the weather grids for this evening, although a few severe storms are possible, with instability increasing over northeast New Mexico at this time. Storm motions will be to the southeast or south through this evening. As northwest flow develops over northeast New Mexico on Tuesday, can't rule out the potential for isolated severe storms there Tuesday afternoon/evening, and SPC has painted the Marginal risk into parts of Colfax, Union and Harding counties. LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY)... As the high pressure shifts to southeast New Mexico on Wednesday, limited moisture will work its way into the state. this will allow for increased precipitation chances, especially across the southern high terrain. With ABQ PWAT forecast to drop to 0.5" by Wednesday afternoon, storms will tend to be on the drier side, with gusty outflow winds possible. Thursday seems like it will be the most active day, as the high shifts further eastward into Texas, setting up a more traditional (albeit weaker) south-to- north monsoon pattern. By Friday, the moisture plume shifts to a more southwest- northeast orientation, while drier air will work its way into the northwest corner of the state. Additionally, transport winds are favorable for smoke and hazy skies from southern California to work their way in through the end of the work week. There is some uncertainty heading into the weekend about the placement of the upper high, but the 12z runs of the GFS and ECMWF are coming into better agreement that a broad area of high pressure will build and shift over southwestern New Mexico, similar to what their respective ensembles are showing. This solution will generally reduce storm coverage across the Land of Enchantment, which goes along with the NBM PoPs. Temperatures will be a mixed bag of near to normal temperatures across the west and temperatures a few degrees above normal across the east. 99/31 && .FIRE WEATHER... The upper high center has drifted over western New Mexico this afternoon and will continue to slowly move to south central New Mexico by early Wednesday morning. This will result in fewer showers and storms tonight through Tuesday night, especially west of the Rio Grande Valley. Some of the activity may become drier as well with gusty winds but little to no rain. Humidities will lower especially from the AZ border to the central mountain chain tonight through Tuesday night, resulting in areas of fair to poor overnight recoveries. Daytime temperatures warm slightly as well. While northwest to west winds tend to increase somewhat Tuesday, not anticipating any noteworthy critical fire weather conditions. The upper high will continue moving to the east of New Mexico Wednesday night and Thursday, allowing for the stream of subtropical moisture to resume, and increasing areal coverage and number of thunderstorms as soon as Wednesday afternoon. However, some of the activity will likely be dry with gusty and erratic winds, at least initially over western New Mexico, before the boundary layer moistens up. The uptick in convection will persist into Friday before the flow of moisture is again restricted by the upper high center returning to New Mexico. Ventilation rates will be mostly good to excellent, with some localized fair to poor rates forecast on Wednesday over the east and on Friday over northeast New Mexico. 99 && .AVIATION... 18Z TAF CYCLE Upper high center shifting over wrn NM and to south central NM next 24 hours. Convection expected to develop over the higher terrain and move into the lower elevations between 21Z and 00Z. Some of the storms will be strong to severe over northeast and east central NM with large hail and wind gusts around 50kt, and brief MVFR to IFR cigs/vsbys along with mt obscurations will be possible in the stronger storms. Tstms to diminish aft 03-06Z with isold to sct showers thereafter. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 63 97 59 95 / 0 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 50 90 50 89 / 10 0 0 5 Cuba............................ 58 91 57 89 / 10 5 0 10 Gallup.......................... 57 93 55 89 / 10 0 0 10 El Morro........................ 55 88 53 83 / 10 5 5 20 Grants.......................... 58 91 55 86 / 10 5 5 20 Quemado......................... 57 87 57 82 / 20 20 5 40 Magdalena....................... 61 89 61 86 / 30 20 5 40 Datil........................... 56 85 56 82 / 20 20 5 40 Reserve......................... 58 92 58 88 / 30 20 5 40 Glenwood........................ 66 96 67 92 / 20 20 5 30 Chama........................... 49 85 48 83 / 30 5 0 10 Los Alamos...................... 59 89 61 87 / 20 10 5 20 Pecos........................... 57 89 58 87 / 30 10 5 20 Cerro/Questa.................... 52 85 48 84 / 40 10 5 20 Red River....................... 45 77 43 76 / 40 20 10 30 Angel Fire...................... 46 80 42 78 / 40 20 10 30 Taos............................ 52 89 52 89 / 40 10 5 20 Mora............................ 52 86 53 85 / 40 20 5 20 Espanola........................ 61 95 56 93 / 20 5 0 10 Santa Fe........................ 58 90 60 88 / 30 10 5 10 Santa Fe Airport................ 58 94 59 91 / 20 10 5 10 Albuquerque Foothills........... 65 94 66 92 / 20 5 5 10 Albuquerque Heights............. 67 96 68 93 / 20 5 5 10 Albuquerque Valley.............. 67 98 63 94 / 20 0 0 10 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 66 97 64 95 / 20 5 0 10 Belen........................... 66 98 65 96 / 20 5 0 10 Bernalillo...................... 64 98 63 96 / 20 5 5 5 Bosque Farms.................... 66 97 64 95 / 20 5 0 10 Corrales........................ 65 98 64 96 / 20 5 0 10 Los Lunas....................... 66 97 65 95 / 20 5 0 10 Placitas........................ 63 93 64 92 / 20 5 5 10 Rio Rancho...................... 65 97 66 96 / 20 5 5 10 Socorro......................... 68 98 68 96 / 20 10 5 20 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 60 89 61 88 / 20 10 5 10 Tijeras......................... 62 92 63 91 / 20 10 5 10 Edgewood........................ 58 92 59 89 / 20 10 5 10 Moriarty/Estancia............... 56 94 57 88 / 20 10 5 10 Clines Corners.................. 57 90 58 89 / 30 10 5 10 Mountainair..................... 59 91 61 89 / 20 10 5 20 Gran Quivira.................... 60 91 62 89 / 20 10 5 20 Carrizozo....................... 66 94 68 93 / 20 10 5 20 Ruidoso......................... 60 87 62 84 / 30 30 5 30 Capulin......................... 56 86 54 86 / 50 40 30 40 Raton........................... 54 91 54 89 / 60 20 20 30 Springer........................ 54 92 54 93 / 50 20 20 30 Las Vegas....................... 54 89 55 87 / 50 20 5 20 Clayton......................... 60 90 59 87 / 30 20 30 10 Roy............................. 57 89 58 89 / 40 20 20 20 Conchas......................... 65 98 63 97 / 30 10 10 10 Santa Rosa...................... 64 97 65 96 / 30 10 5 10 Tucumcari....................... 67 100 67 95 / 30 10 20 10 Clovis.......................... 65 98 67 95 / 20 10 20 10 Portales........................ 66 99 68 96 / 20 10 20 10 Fort Sumner..................... 67 99 68 97 / 20 10 10 10 Roswell......................... 71 104 72 101 / 20 10 10 10 Picacho......................... 66 96 67 94 / 20 30 10 20 Elk............................. 63 92 64 90 / 20 40 10 30 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 401 AM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020 NMZ201>241-041100- 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- 401 AM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of north and central New Mexico. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight There is a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms over eastern NM where heavy rainfall, large hail, damaging winds, minor flooding, and frequent lightning strikes are possible. Storms will move southward at 10 to 20 mph. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday The coverage of showers and thunderstorms will decrease over much of the region through the end of this week. However, a few storms are still possible in and around the higher terrain each afternoon with brief heavy rain, strong downburst winds, small hail, and occasional lightning strikes. Storm motions will transition from northwest to southeast Tuesday and Wednesday to southwest to northeast through the weekend. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated. Guyer
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 143 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020 NMZ215-228-032015- Far Northeast Highlands-East Slopes Sangre de Cristo Mountains- 143 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTH CENTRAL MORA AND SOUTH CENTRAL COLFAX COUNTIES UNTIL 215 PM MDT... At 143 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Ocate, or 24 miles northwest of Wagon Mound, moving south at 15 mph. Dime size hail and winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with this storm. Heavy rain will also be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Ocate. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists can expect brief but sudden changes in visibility and ponding of water on highways as storms move through the area. Accumulations of small hail on roads can create very slick and hazardous driving conditions. && LAT...LON 3632 10511 3634 10493 3611 10476 3606 10513 TIME...MOT...LOC 1943Z 353DEG 15KT 3625 10502 CA
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 220 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020 NMZ208-241-032045- San Agustin Plains and Adjacent Lowlands-Southwest Mountains- 220 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL CATRON COUNTY UNTIL 245 PM MDT... At 220 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 7 miles southwest of Old Horse Springs, or 28 miles east of Reserve, moving southeast at 5 mph. Half inch hail and winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with this storm. Heavy rain will also be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Old Horse Springs. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Heavy rains will cause water to pond on roads and in low spots. Fast running water will quickly fill arroyos and ditches. && LAT...LON 3390 10841 3394 10821 3379 10801 3371 10836 TIME...MOT...LOC 2020Z 335DEG 5KT 3383 10828 CA
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 230 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020 NMZ215-228-032100- Far Northeast Highlands-East Slopes Sangre de Cristo Mountains- 230 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL MORA COUNTY UNTIL 300 PM MDT... At 229 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 8 miles south of Ocate, or 17 miles west of Wagon Mound, moving south at 25 mph. Nickel size hail and wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph will be possible with this storm. Heavy rain will also be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Golondrinas and Ojo Feliz. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor your preferred media outlets and NOAA Weather Radio for additional information and possible warnings from the National Weather Service. && LAT...LON 3614 10512 3616 10492 3589 10485 3588 10519 TIME...MOT...LOC 2029Z 003DEG 22KT 3605 10503 CA
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
243 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020
NMZ216-032115-
Upper Rio Grande Valley-
243 PM MDT Mon Aug 3 2020
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR WEST CENTRAL TAOS COUNTY UNTIL
315 PM MDT...
At 243 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 8
miles west of Arroyo Hondo, or 15 miles southwest of Questa, moving
southeast at 15 mph.
Dime size hail and winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with
this storm.
Heavy rain will also be possible with this storm.
Locations impacted include...
Arroyo Hondo and San Cristobal.
This includes the following highways...
Highway 285 near Mile Marker 377.
Highway 64 between Mile Markers 227 and 246.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Motorists can expect brief but sudden changes in visibility and
ponding of water on highways as storms move through the area.
Accumulations of small hail on roads can create very slick and
hazardous driving conditions.
&&
LAT...LON 3664 10562 3658 10562 3636 10570 3655 10595
3670 10586
TIME...MOT...LOC 2043Z 294DEG 14KT 3658 10581
CAThe Albuquerque radar (KABX), 165 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:58 UTC.
4 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail up to the size of two inches in diameter fell in Buena Vista as a severe thunderstorm tracked south-southwest through the area. The extent of damage from the hail was not known.
A peak thunderstorm wind gust of 61 mph was recorded at the Raton airport.
Hail up to the size of nickels was reported in Bernalillo as a storm moved southeast through the area.
Quarter size hail was reported south of Sedillo as a severe thunderstorm moved southeast through the area.
A CoCoRaHS observer reported nickel size hail with a thunderstorm that moved southeast through Sedillo.
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: 898991, 898993, 901188, 898998, 898996.