A third day of very deep moisture across the Borderland brought heavy rain to the Canutillo area and additional flash flooding after 5 to 7 inches of rain fell in the previous 3 days.
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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 EPZ wrote it up.
A third day of very deep moisture across the Borderland brought heavy rain to the Canutillo area and additional flash flooding after 5 to 7 inches of rain fell in the previous 3 days.
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 14, 5:09 AM MST, 5 hours 6 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM 609 AM MDT Sat Aug 14 2021 .UPDATE...12Z TAF ISSUANCE... Plenty of nocturnal shower and thunderstorm activity across Far West Texas and Southern New Mexico as we head into the early morning hours. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms are producing MVFR to IRF conditions with rain shafts lowering VSBY to 1-3 SM and lowering CIGS to 2-3kft AGL. Plenty of mtn obscurations too. These will likely diminish in coverage through the morning, but the diurnal heat cycle should generate a new batch of showers and thunderstorms by late AM/early PM. Thus some breaks in the clouds, but still plenty through the period. Winds generally E in the 5-10kt range. && .PREV DISCUSSION...406 AM MDT Sat Aug 14 2021... .SYNOPSIS... Areas of heavy rain and isolated instances of flash flooding remain possible this afternoon and into the overnight across much of the area, with the threat shifting to the international border into Sunday. Scattered thunderstorms remain possible into the early to middle portions of next week, especially over area mountains, with temperatures between 86 and 92 degrees generally. && .DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM... It's August, and we are in the heart of the traditional SW monsoon season. The current and projected PWAT values across the CWFA are 1.50" to 1.80" according to model consensus. The surface dewpoints are in the mid-60s tonight, and the models keep them in the 60s through the day today. Both of these numbers (PWATs and dewpoints) are above average. This means the atmosphere across the Borderland is ripe with moisture for more storms and rain. The synoptic pattern across the southwest doesn't really provide the region with any large scale forcing, or any features that would promote or focus storm development over our region, but we don't/won't need that to generate another round of showers and thunderstorms today. All that is needed, with this moist and conditionally unstable airmass, will be forced upslope flow over higher terrain, and surface heating, with any breaks in the abundant cloud cover. The day will overall stay cooler than average, but also quite muggy with the high humidity. With all the moisture, clouds will likely win over sunshine. Any sunshine we do get will feedback with more cloud development. Given the very moist atmosphere, we have high POPS with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms in for forecast for all areas again today and well into the evening tonight. Storms should be tracking from SSE to NNW today at a relatively slow rate of 5-15 mph. With much of the area having already seen moderate to heavy rainfall, our soils are wet and, in many cases saturated. This means very efficient, and proficient, rain-making storms with heavy rain and flash flooding, ponding expected. In urban areas especially, the rain rates and amounts could lead to life-threatening flooding scenarios. Thus the Flash Flood Watch continued through midnight tonight. && .LONG TERM... Sunday, our moisture across northern areas begins to slightly decrease, but most of the area will continue with anomalously moist PWs. As a result, thunderstorm chances will remain throughout the day, with heavy rain and isolated flash flooding. Some of the main forcing aloft will be lost, but it actually seems pretty energetic in the atmosphere, especially southern portions, so lift may be ample enough for decent storm coverage. Heading into the early to middle portions of next week, we have a trough just clipping NE areas of the CWA, with perhaps an associated weak sfc convergent zone swinging through. May be the focus for isolated storm coverage Monday evening into the overnight hrs, but prior, area mountains will be favored, especially the Gila. Moisture decreases a bit, but still remaining in the 1.3" range for PW during the afternoon, and increasing into the overnight. Tuesday and Wednesday seem a lot more typical monsoonal on the ECM and CMC, with the GFS a bit more scattered potential across the lowlands. Not the easiest upper level pattern to discern during the later portions of next week as a few very small scale features emerge to impact thunderstorm coverage, so for now thinking scattered mtns and iso lowlands, but if some of these features push west into the Borderland, the coverage could increase. Temperatures will remain in the 85 to 92 degree range most of the long term period with light to mildly breezy winds outside of thunderstorm outflow. && .FIRE WEATHER... Fire weather concerns are next to nil across the region given the deep atmospheric moisture, high low-level relative humidity values, abundant expected cloud cover, much cooler than normal temperatures, and widespread wetting rains expected through the weekend. On the other hand, heavy rain and flash flooding will be a concern for anyone out in the field and without a source for current weather situational awareness. Flooding of creeks, arroyos, washes is possible and may cut off travel routes, or threaten personal safety. In addition, heavy rain over any sensitive burn scar is likely to produce heavy runoff and debris flows. Moisture levels do wain a bit for much of the workweek ahead, but we never completely dry out so, although with lesser coverage, we do expect at least isolated to scattered showers and storm much of the week. Temperatures will warm, and Rh will drop, but still be well above critical thresholds. Models suggest a return of deeper monsoon moisture by the end of the week and next weekend, with an associated increase in storm and rain coverage. && && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 78 66 81 67 / 70 70 60 20 Sierra Blanca 75 61 75 61 / 60 50 70 20 Las Cruces 76 63 81 63 / 70 70 60 20 Alamogordo 77 62 81 63 / 80 60 60 20 Cloudcroft 57 46 60 46 / 100 80 70 20 Truth or Consequences 79 62 81 63 / 70 60 50 20 Silver City 73 58 75 58 / 70 70 60 30 Deming 78 63 81 63 / 70 70 60 30 Lordsburg 81 65 80 63 / 70 60 60 30 West El Paso Metro 79 67 82 68 / 70 70 60 20 Dell City 77 63 79 63 / 60 50 60 20 Fort Hancock 82 66 83 66 / 60 60 60 20 Loma Linda 71 61 73 61 / 70 70 70 20 Fabens 78 67 81 66 / 70 60 60 20 Santa Teresa 77 65 80 65 / 70 70 60 20 White Sands HQ 75 65 80 65 / 80 70 70 20 Jornada Range 74 63 78 63 / 70 60 60 20 Hatch 75 63 79 63 / 70 60 60 20 Columbus 78 65 79 65 / 70 70 60 30 Orogrande 75 63 79 63 / 80 60 60 20 Mayhill 62 53 71 53 / 90 70 70 20 Mescalero 64 51 71 51 / 90 70 70 20 Timberon 62 51 67 50 / 90 70 80 20 Winston 73 53 76 53 / 70 60 50 20 Hillsboro 74 60 78 59 / 80 70 60 20 Spaceport 76 62 80 62 / 70 60 50 20 Lake Roberts 77 54 77 53 / 70 60 60 20 Hurley 76 59 78 58 / 70 70 60 30 Cliff 82 59 83 59 / 60 60 50 30 Mule Creek 81 60 78 57 / 60 50 50 30 Faywood 73 60 76 59 / 70 70 60 30 Animas 80 62 79 62 / 70 70 60 40 Hachita 80 62 77 62 / 70 70 60 30 Antelope Wells 80 63 79 63 / 70 70 70 50 Cloverdale 76 60 75 60 / 70 70 70 50 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...Flash Flood Watch through this evening for NMZ401>417. TX...Flash Flood Watch through this evening for TXZ418>424. && 14-Bird/35/14
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM
808 AM MDT SAT AUG 14 2021
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0807 AM HEAVY RAIN 1 NE ALAMOGORDO 32.90N 105.94W
08/14/2021 E3.50 INCH OTERO NM TRAINED SPOTTER
ABOUT 3.5 INCHES OF RAIN IN 1 HOUR.
&&
JDThe El Paso radar (KEPZ), 10 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:15 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple reports of flash flooding in Canutillo due to 5 to 7 inches of rainfall in the region over the previous days. A stalled vehicle needed to be rescued near the Family Dollar on Doniphan Drive. Texas Highway 20 was closed again due to water and debris across the road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2021
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: 983698.