Even though the last month of the monsoon season brought slightly below normal rainfall, late August precipitation helped to improve drought conditions across southern New Mexico in September.
Every event with a place to put it; 13 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.
Even though the last month of the monsoon season brought slightly below normal rainfall, late August precipitation helped to improve drought conditions across southern New Mexico in September.
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 31, 10:32 PM MST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM 1132 PM MDT Wed Aug 31 2022 ...Update for 06Z TAF Cycle... .AVIATION...06Z TAF CYCLE Upper low over northern Chihuahua will sustain light and isolated SHRA along the US/Mexico border into Wednesday morning, with best chances across far west TX. Skies generally SCT-BKN040, BKN- OVC110 at KELP, with fewer CIGs across SW NM. May see CIGs fall to MVFR (2.0-2.5K FT AGL) early Thursday morning at KELP. Very spotty rain showers tomorrow, with high confidence in VFR conditions prevailing. && .PREV DISCUSSION...141 PM MDT Wed Aug 31 2022... .SYNOPSIS... The best chance for showers and thunderstorms tonight and into Thursday will be across west Texas. Through the rest of the work week and into the weekend, temperatures will remain below average, there will be a few breezy winds at times, and any storm chances will be very isolated in nature. && .DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM... The inverted trough that is currently giving the southern areas low clouds and light rain will stall over northern MX during the short term period. The trough currently is extending into the panhandle of TX and central NM, wrapping gulf moisture into most of NM. Surface dew points have been slowly increasing over eastern areas, and remaining consistent for western areas. Satellite shows patchy to overcast cloud cover over the CWA this afternoon, which will make it harder for convection to get going this afternoon and evening. Dynamics from the upper level trough are moderate and spread over a wide area, focusing more over the Big Bend region of TX. As a result, light to moderate stratiform rain has been moving across Hudspeth, Otero, El Paso, and Dona Ana counties this afternoon. Light rain and low clouds will continue to impact these areas overnight and into early Thursday morning. Best chances for more moderate rain will be overnight tonight in El Paso. With the weaker lifting and instability present in the atmosphere, it will be harder to see anything more than isolated cells with heavier rainfall. A center of high pressure over NV will strengthen Thursday, acting to push drier air over the northwestern part of the CWA. Low clouds should hang around the international border and eastern areas, keeping temperatures 10 - 15 degrees below normal with intermittent light rain. The sunshine out west will create better chances for afternoon convection in the Gila Region, albeit isolated to scattered. && .LONG TERM... A rather mundane pattern to end the work week, through the weekend, and into early next week. Upper high pressure to the northwest will strengthen and keep most of the moisture out of the Borderland. Still, a few isolated thunderstorms will be possible most afternoons over area mtns and across Hudspeth county, especially if energy aloft can swing through like on Saturday for instance. Even so, not much in the way of QPF is expected with little in the way of a flooding threat due to poor moisture quality most areas. Temperatures will be seasonable a few days, but mainly below average (lowlands 85 to 90 degrees). Expect mildly breezy east to southeast winds with a few breezy gusts as well, especially this weekend. The pattern in the extended may or may not become interesting as tropical energy tires to form across the western Mexican coastal waters. Current 12Z EC is a direct hit for the fcst area, next Thurs-Fri, whereas the 12Z GFS is a day or two slower. Nevertheless, we're talking about 7 to 10 days in the future, which is typically fantasy land for these models, especially when dealing with tropical features. If this feature does form, however, the upper level pattern and steering flow will be the main determinant in whether we see this storm track up into southern NM, west of here, or east. As such, no real conclusions can be drawn at this time, but will be interesting to watch this unfold over the next few days. && .FIRE WEATHER... Tropical moisture will hang around most of the region through Thursday night, keeping light rain and cloud cover in the forecast. Drier air will start to slowly push in from the north and northwest Thursday night into Friday, lowering RH values and allowing temperatures to warm back up to around normal. Winds will be east and gusty tonight, but should weaken by the end of the week. Isolated storm chances for the area Friday through early next week as the pattern remains stagnant. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 66 82 66 87 / 30 30 20 20 Sierra Blanca 62 72 62 76 / 60 40 40 40 Las Cruces 64 84 64 87 / 20 30 20 0 Alamogordo 63 83 62 87 / 20 30 10 0 Cloudcroft 46 61 46 66 / 20 50 20 20 Truth or Consequences 63 87 64 89 / 10 10 0 0 Silver City 58 81 59 83 / 10 20 10 10 Deming 64 84 63 88 / 20 20 20 0 Lordsburg 64 86 64 88 / 0 20 10 0 West El Paso Metro 66 82 66 86 / 30 30 30 20 Dell City 64 77 64 83 / 50 40 20 20 Fort Hancock 64 79 65 82 / 50 50 40 40 Loma Linda 61 73 61 79 / 40 40 30 20 Fabens 66 80 66 84 / 40 40 30 20 Santa Teresa 64 81 64 85 / 30 30 30 20 White Sands HQ 65 83 65 87 / 20 30 20 10 Jornada Range 63 83 64 86 / 20 30 10 0 Hatch 64 86 64 89 / 20 20 10 0 Columbus 64 82 65 85 / 20 30 20 20 Orogrande 63 81 63 86 / 30 30 20 10 Mayhill 52 70 51 75 / 20 40 20 20 Mescalero 51 74 51 77 / 20 40 10 10 Timberon 51 69 50 74 / 30 50 20 20 Winston 56 80 57 83 / 10 10 0 0 Hillsboro 59 84 60 87 / 10 20 10 0 Spaceport 62 85 62 89 / 10 20 10 0 Lake Roberts 53 82 54 84 / 10 20 10 10 Hurley 60 84 61 86 / 10 20 10 0 Cliff 58 89 59 92 / 0 20 10 10 Mule Creek 58 84 59 86 / 0 30 20 20 Faywood 61 83 61 85 / 10 20 10 0 Animas 62 84 63 87 / 0 20 10 10 Hachita 62 82 62 85 / 10 20 20 10 Antelope Wells 61 80 62 82 / 20 30 30 30 Cloverdale 59 77 59 79 / 10 30 20 30 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...None. TX...None. && 31/35/30
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service El Paso TX/Santa Teresa NM 1106 AM MDT Wed Aug 31 2022 NMZ407-410-411-413>417-TXZ418>424-011715- Southwest Desert/Mimbres Basin-Northern Dona Ana County- Southern Dona Ana County/Mesilla Valley-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- 1106 AM MDT Wed Aug 31 2022 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of south central New Mexico, southwest New Mexico, and southwest Texas. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight A tropical easterly wave is slowly moving through far west TX and northern MX today. Low clouds and light to moderate stratiform rain will be seen around the international border. There is a slight chance for isolated thunderstorms this afternoon and evening in Otero and Dona Ana counties. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday Isolated to scattered thunderstorm chances return for the higher terrain later this week, with less chances this weekend areawide. Heavy rainfall potential returns early next week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed, but any weather reports are appreciated.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
15 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
The southeast portion of the zone which started the month in Severe(D2) drought was put into Moderate(D1) drought by the end of the month. The Gila Hot Springs Cooperative Observer reported 1.59 inches of precipitation which was 0.22 inches below normal.
The entire zone started the month in Severe(D2) drought but by the end of September the southeast was in Moderate(D1) drought and the northwest in Abnormally Dry(D0) drought.
Severe(D2) was over the eastern half of the zone to start September, but by the end of the month, the southeast was in Moderate(D1) drought with Abnormally Dry(D0) drought over the west. The White Signal Cooperative Observer reported 0.56 inches of precipitation which was 1.04 inches below normal.
The central portion of the zone remained in Severe(D2) drought through the month while the remainder of the zone was in Moderate(D1) drought. The Antelope Wells Cooperative Observer reported 1.10 inches of precipitation which was 0.55 inches below normal.
The southern half of the zone remained in Severe(D2) drought while the north remained in Moderate(D1) drought.
The month started out with Extreme(D3) drought over the northeast portion of the zone improving to Moderate(D1) drought over the southeast. By the end of the month, the central portion from northeast to southwest was in Severe(D2) drought with other areas in Moderate(D1) drought. The Deming Airport reported 0.49 inches of precipitation which was 0.66 inches below normal.
The entire zone went from Severe(D2) drought to Moderate(D1) drought. The Hillsboro Cooperative Observer reported 1.45 inches of precipitation which was 0.52 inches below normal.
The southern half of the zone started the month in Extreme(D3) drought with Severe(D2) drought across the north. By the end of September, the entire zone was in Moderate(D1) drought.
The western half of the zone started out in Extreme(D3) drought improving to Moderate(D1) across the east. By the end of September, the west was in Severe(D2) drought with Moderate(D1) drought remaining over the east.
September started out with Severe(D2) drought over the northwest and improving to Abnormally Dry(D0) drought over the southeast. By the end of September, just the far northwest remained in Severe(D2) drought with no drought conditions over the southeast. The New Mexico State University Cooperative Observer reported 0.86 inches which was 0.55 inches below normal.
September started with Severe(D2) drought over the north and Moderate(D1) drought across the south. By the end of the month, the entire zone was in Moderate(D1) drought.
The entire zone went from Severe(D2) drought to Moderate(D1) drought by the end of the month. The Cooperative Observer in Mountain Park reported 2.25 inches of precipitation which was 0.23 inches below normal.
The zone went from Severe(D2) drought to Moderate(D1) drought by the end of the month. The Cloudcroft Cooperative Observer reported 2.80 inches of precipitation which was 0.43 inches below normal.
The entire zone improved from Severe(D2) drought to Moderate(D1) drought by the end of September.
The northeast portion of the zone started September in Severe(D2) drought with no drought conditions over the southwest. By the end of the month, the northeast improved to Moderate(D1) drought and continued no drought conditions over the southwest.
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, September 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: 1058314, 1058316, 1058317, 1058320, 1058321, 1058324, 1058325, 1058327, 1058329, 1058332, 1058335, 1058336, 1058337, 1058339, 1058340.