With an abundant amount of moisture across northern and central New Mexico, the Fourth of July holiday was a busy one across the area. Numerous thunderstorms impacted the area, some of which produced locally heavy rainfall.
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.
With an abundant amount of moisture across northern and central New Mexico, the Fourth of July holiday was a busy one across the area. Numerous thunderstorms impacted the area, some of which produced locally heavy rainfall. Thunderstorms near Mexican Springs in McKinley County caused flash flooding along area roadways during the evening hours.
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 Jul 4, 5:02 PM MST, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 602 PM MDT Mon Jul 4 2022 .AVIATION... 00Z TAF CYCLE Showers and thunderstorms will diminish most places by midnight with any lingering cells after midnight favoring western and southern areas. Models depict a broad pocket of drier air (already visible south of NM on water vapor imagery) tracking northward over the forecast area on Tuesday with a significant downtick in convective coverage and rainfall intensity. Better monsoon moisture is forecast to advect northward over southern areas by late afternoon, with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms forecast along and east of the south central mountains. A secondary favored location for storms will be along the CO border Tuesday afternoon. 44 && .PREV DISCUSSION...217 PM MDT Mon Jul 4 2022... .SYNOPSIS... Daily rounds of showers and thunderstorms will continue over the next several days with western and central New Mexico being most favored for the greatest storm coverage. Gusty and erratic winds, frequent lightning, and locally heavy rainfall will be able to accompany any thunderstorm. Storm coverage trends down starting Thursday and into the weekend as the area of high pressure builds near the Four Corners. Drier air filtering into the area as a result will lead to lesser storm coverage, however, the threat for burn scar flash flooding will continue thanks to slower storm motions. && .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT)... Storms have erupted over the west central, south central and southwest higher terrain initially as models predicted and have been making steady progress expanding to the north and east. Compared to the last few days though, cells haven't been quite as vigorous so far this afternoon. Still, LAPS indicates increasing instability over the Gila region, and localized flash flooding is still possible as peak afternoon heating hasn't yet been realized. Latest model runs also still hint at an outflow boundary from the west central/southwest convection tracking to the north and east which could trigger more showers and storms but vary in timing and strength. Water vapor imagery shows a large area of drier air to our south and southwest poised to advect into New Mexico on Tuesday. Forecast models have picked up on this and indicate less activity over southwest/west central New Mexico into portions of central and northeast New Mexico as this drier air tracks over the region. This appears to be short lived as another surge is depicted into southern and western New Mexico late Tuesday night. High temperatures Tuesday will be below normal west and central and within a few degrees of normal far eastern plains. Lows will remain above normal. LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY)... By Wednesday, the H5 high remains centered over the SE US, and southerly flow aloft keeps the monsoonal moisture plume directly over NM. There's still evidence of drier air (particularly on the deterministic runs of the GFS and ECMWF) filtering into northern NM with model guidance showing PWATs trending down in this area to around 0.5" to 0.75". The ECMWF goes one step further with also showing that drier air filtering in from the west. Meanwhile, the deterministic runs of the NAM and Canadian show little to no drying. Regardless, with the moisture plume directly overhead, another day of scattered to numerous thunderstorms is in store with perhaps lesser coverage across the northern mountains. The upper-level pattern becomes messier on Thursday as the H5 high begins to become more disorganized. As a result, there are multiple solutions amongst the models in where it will be on Thursday. Some keep the high over the SE while others begin to transition it westward over TX. Ensemble guidance seems to lean more towards this high somewhere over TX which in turn begins to weaken the moisture plume. Storm coverage begins to trend down starting Thursday, but the threat for burn scar flash flooding will continue as weaker flow aloft translates to slower storm motions. A storm setting up in the wrong place will still have the potential to produce locally heavy rainfall and flash flooding. By Friday and into the weekend, the H5 high then reorganizes over the Four Corners with guidance strengthening it to about 598dam to 600dam. Decreasing moisture values and this strong upper-level high will aid in suppressing convection. Thus, look for lesser storm coverage this weekend, but with slow and erratic storm motions, the threat for burn scar flash flooding continues. 15 && .FIRE WEATHER... At least in the shorter term, the plume of monsoon moisture for the most part will remain stretched from southwest to northeast over NM. Cell motion for the rest of the afternoon and evening will generally be to the north and northeast over western NM while over northern NM, to the northeast and east. The focus for showers and storms will vary a bit from day to day, with a downtrend expected Tuesday over the southwest/west central and into central and northeast areas as some drier air temporarily moves over the region. An uptick in activity may occur Wednesday. Forecast models vary regarding how quickly a pattern change will develop, but a strong upper high may relocate to the central and southern Rockies by the upcoming weekend. This would bring warmer temperatures and fewer showers and storms overall staying closer to the mountains. Storm motions would be slower and more erratic, which could still lead to localized flash flooding. High temperatures would be closer to or even a few degrees above normal. && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flood Watch until 10 PM MDT this evening for the following zones... NMZ206>208-226-241. &&
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
252 PM MDT Mon Jul 4 2022
NMZ206>208-241-042115-
West Central Highlands-San Agustin Plains and Adjacent
Lowlands-Southwest Mountains-West Central Mountains-
252 PM MDT Mon Jul 4 2022
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
CIBOLA, NORTHWESTERN SOCORRO AND NORTHEASTERN CATRON COUNTIES THROUGH
315 PM MDT...
At 251 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 24
miles northeast of Datil, moving northeast at 20 mph.
HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and pea size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Alamo.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If threatening weather approaches your area, take shelter in a sturdy
building.
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
Accumulations of small hail on roads can create very slick and
hazardous driving conditions.
&&
LAT...LON 3433 10763 3446 10784 3480 10772 3454 10729
TIME...MOT...LOC 2051Z 215DEG 19KT 3447 10766
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
12Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
357 PM MDT Mon Jul 4 2022
NMZ205-206-208-042230-
West Central Plateau-Southwest Mountains-West Central Mountains-
357 PM MDT Mon Jul 4 2022
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT PORTIONS OF SOUTHWESTERN CIBOLA
AND NORTH CENTRAL CATRON COUNTIES THROUGH 430 PM MDT...
At 357 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Quemado, or 38 miles west of Datil, moving northeast at 30 mph.
HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and pea size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Omega and Quemado.
This includes Highway 60 between Mile Markers 27 and 49.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If threatening weather approaches your area, take shelter in a sturdy
building.
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
Motorists can expect brief but sudden changes in visibility and
ponding of water on highways as storms move through the area.
&&
LAT...LON 3415 10844 3425 10863 3463 10852 3443 10805
TIME...MOT...LOC 2157Z 209DEG 28KT 3427 10849
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
12Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
427 PM MDT Mon Jul 4 2022
NMZ206-207-042300-
West Central Highlands-West Central Mountains-
427 PM MDT Mon Jul 4 2022
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL CIBOLA
COUNTY THROUGH 500 PM MDT...
At 426 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Grants. This storm was nearly stationary.
HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and half inch hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Grants, Milan, McCartys, San Fidel, San Rafael in Cibola County and
Acomita Lake.
This includes Interstate 40 between Mile Markers 78 and 99.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If threatening weather approaches your area, take shelter in a sturdy
building.
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
&&
LAT...LON 3495 10785 3510 10802 3533 10779 3511 10754
TIME...MOT...LOC 2226Z 268DEG 2KT 3510 10787
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
15The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 193 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:29 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain near Mexican Springs flooded U.S. Highway 491 along with multiple dirt roads, including Navajo Service Road 30. 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, July 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: 1026344.