An easterly wave that had been in place over southern New Mexico and Arizona all week finally tracked over New Mexico on August 20, 2022. As it did so, it brought an above normal amount of precipitation as precipitable water amounts rose to near record values.
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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.
An easterly wave that had been in place over southern New Mexico and Arizona all week finally tracked over New Mexico on August 20, 2022. As it did so, it brought an above normal amount of precipitation as precipitable water amounts rose to near record values. This brought widespread, beneficial rainfall to most of northern and central New Mexico with the highest 24-hour rainfall totals of two to four inches across areas south of Interstate 40 where the easterly wave tracked. The system did lack a sufficient amount of instability, and thus, stratiform rain was most common with embedded thunderstorms. These light rainfall rates meant that the traditional summertime flash flooding was not the main threat. Rather, rises on rivers, creeks, and streams were with the long duration event. Flooding was reported in Mesa along U.S. Highway 285 which stranded motorists. The McBride burn scar also experienced flooding thanks to hours of steady rainfall. Across Chaves County, the Pecos River experienced record flooding with major impacts felt for several days near Roswell, Hagerman, Dexter, and Lake Arthur.
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 20, 4:45 AM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 545 AM MDT Sat Aug 20 2022 .AVIATION... 12Z TAF CYCLE Widespread light to moderate rain with lcl MVFR cigs will continue spreading northeast into central and eastern NM today. Brief IFR may develop locally near the high terrain and east slopes of the central mt chain, especially from KSRR to KCQC thru 02Z. Any embedded TSRA will produce lcl heavy rainfall as well, primarily across eastern NM. Rain, areas of fog, and low cigs will continue over eastern NM most of tonight with widespread IFR expected aft 02Z. Guyer && .PREV DISCUSSION...309 AM MDT Sat Aug 20 2022... .SYNOPSIS... The initial impulse of monsoonal moisture is bringing moderate to locally heavy rainfall into southwestern NM this morning, slowly spreading north and eastward into south-central NM. This will continue to spread into central NM through the morning before entering the eastern plains this afternoon and evening. Widespread precipitation totals through the end of Sunday morning of 0.50” to 1.50” with localized heavier amounts of to 2” to 4” will focus along and south of I-40. Flash flooding remains the main impact of concern, especially over southern burn scars and already soaked areas. Conditions clear out through Sunday, with more normal daily rounds of afternoon storms forming over the central mountain each day heading into next week. && .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY)... Composite radar shows widespread light to moderate rainfall shifting northeast across much of southern and central NM early this morning. There are very few changes to convey and the overall message of an elevated risk for flooding continues, especially on burn scars, low lying areas, and some creeks and streams leading to mainstem rivers. Rainfall rates may not be high enough to allow for "flash flooding" over most of the area however, it is uncertain how saturated soils will respond to longer duration widespread moderate to heavy rain. The greatest confidence for 24-hr precip amounts of 2 to 4" exists over east central NM as the center of sfc low pressure and mid level deformation drifts slowly E/NE thru tonight. Areas of fog are also likely to lower vsbys across the south and east which will make for difficult travel with rain and road spray thru tonight. The entire wave is expected to exit eastern NM Sunday morning with lingering fog and light rain showers east of the central mt chain. Enough clearing may develop across the northern and western high terrain for a few storms to fire up and move south late Sunday afternoon. LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)... Sunday night into Monday starts the long term period seeing the upper low currently near Elko, NV diving south over northern NM and opening to a trough. This looks to enhance CI over the northern mountains of New Mexico by midday. North to south steering flow looks to steer storms southward over adjacent lower elevations along the central mountain chain through Monday afternoon and evening. By Tuesday, a modest 590-592dm 5H high takes shape over the Great Basin region, setting up N-S flow aloft over NM. With easterly upslope surface flow through the eastern plains each day, storms Tuesday and Wednesday will favor CI over the central mountain chain. Steering flow will again take these storms N to S over adjacent lower elevations along the central mountain chain and Rio Grande Valleys. Have tried to capture this with chance PoPs over the RGV during the evening periods. Thereafter, the high pressure over the Great Basin breaks down, replaced by strengthening northwest flow aloft associated with a low traversing west to east across MT. This opens the door for storms developing over the central mountain chain to make it further into eastern NM Thursday, and moreso by Friday. The GFS and ECMWF solutions also show surface return flow over the eastern plains of NM, which should feed good boundary layer inflow into any storms moving southeast off the Sangre de Cristo Mountains during this time. Guyer/24 && .FIRE WEATHER... Widespread rain with isolated storms will produce a large swath of rainfall amounts of 1 to 2" across central NM with 2 to 4" across the south and east through tonight. The focus will then shift into northern and western NM Sunday where a few storms are possible by late afternoon. An active weather pattern will continue with daily rounds of showers and storms with heavy rainfall thru the end of next week. Guyer && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flood Watch through this evening for the following zones... NMZ207-212-214-217>219-221>223-228-229-231>237. Flood Watch through this evening for the following zones... NMZ202-205-206-208-209-211-215-220-224>226-238>241. &&
The Holloman AFB radar (KHDX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:58 UTC.
3 flood, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Lincoln County emergency manager reported that hours of light, steady rainfall with totals of 1 to 2.5 inches caused burn scar flash flooding on the McBride burn scar near Ruidoso. All of Gavilan Canyon was flooded. Damages are estimated.
Consistent rainfall near Mesa caused flooding along U.S. Highway 285 which stranded motorists between mile markers 144 and 146. Water rescues were also needed at mile marker 139. The extent of damages are not known and are estimated for the stranded vehicles.
A long duration rain event caused the Pecos River in Chaves County to swell and cause major flooding around the river. Once the Acme gauge to the northeast of Roswell crested to major flood stage, that water slowly traveled south for several days, causing flooding in the Dexter, Hagerman, and Lake Arthur areas. The gauge at Lake Arthur crested to a maximum of 13.37 feet at about 6:45 PM MDT on August 26th. Despite this being well below action stage, major impacts were still felt for several days across southern Chaves County along the Pecos River. During the early morning hours of the 21st, a vehicle attempting to cross a flooded low water crossing was carried about a half mile downstream along Cherokee Road near Hagerman. A water rescue was conducted for the driver who was found sitting on the top of their partially submerged vehicle. Along River Road at Bottomless Lakes, four people had to be rescued. Two of these individuals were rescued from a trapped vehicle while the other two were rescued from the home after they previously chose not to evacuate. Finally, near Dexter, three people had to be rescued from their vehicle. This water rescue proved to be particularly difficult as the flood waters at this point were too high which prevented emergency officials from reaching the stranded travelers. Officials had to drive around Dexter and approach the location from the east to rescue the three individuals. Despite all this, there were no known injuries and damages are a rough estimate.
A long duration rain event across the area caused the Pecos River to swell to record values. The Acme gauge, located to the northeast of Roswell along the river, entered action stage during the early morning hours of August 21st, and water levels continued to rise quickly to a crest of 17.37 feet by about 2 PM MDT. This was well over the major flood stage of 16 feet, and it set a new record for the Acme gauge. The gauge stayed in major flood stage for about seven hours before gradually falling below action stage during the evening hours of August 22nd. This record flooding along the Pecos River caused major impacts in the area. Near Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, the Chaves County emergency manager relayed reports of a truck that was stuck within the flood waters with the driver having to be rescued. Damages are estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, August 2022
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: 1040224, 1040226, 1041762, 1041761.