A line of storms moving across the Four Corners area produced dry microbursts and significant damage at several locations across the Northwest Plateau in northwest NM. The Farmington observing station reported a wind gust of 50 knots or 58 miles per hour on the leading edge of the storms.
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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.
A line of storms moving across the Four Corners area produced dry microbursts and significant damage at several locations across the Northwest Plateau in northwest NM. The Farmington observing station reported a wind gust of 50 knots or 58 miles per hour on the leading edge of the storms.
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 2, 4:42 PM MST, 1 hour 36 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 542 PM MDT Wed Aug 2 2023 ...New AVIATION... .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 209 PM MDT Wed Aug 2 2023 A modest surge of monsoon moisture will stream northeastward over the forecast area with increased coverage of showers and thunderstorms this evening, then mainly over southern and eastern areas on Thursday afternoon and evening. Drier air will then filter over the area from the northwest at the end of the week relegating spotty and small cells mainly to the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo and Sacramento Mountains. Storms should increase in coverage some over northeast areas Sunday, then over more of the forecast area Monday and Tuesday. Otherwise, high temperatures will become very hot again at the end of this week through the middle of next week with readings near 100 degrees in Albuquerque daily, and readings near and above 105 degrees in Roswell and eventually Socorro. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Thursday night) Issued at 209 PM MDT Wed Aug 2 2023 12Z KABQ upper air sounding showed a PWAT of 1.02", which was down from 1.10" 24hrs prior but still more than sufficient to support convection with decent downpours given sufficient instability. This is certainly the case across the south central mountains this afternoon, where elevated PWATs and slow storm motion is making for a locally heavy rainfall and resulting flash flood threat, especially on/near the McBride burn scar. A Pacific dry air intrusion is obvious in the latest water vapor satellite imagery over southwest/south central AZ and is forecast to move northeast and rotate around the upper high circulation across western and northern NM through Thursday night. The result should be less convection across western and north central NM Thursday, with dry air entrainment making for short-lived updrafts and putting the kibosh on soaking rains. Otherwise, the deepest convection on Thursday will be across the southern mountains once again and across far northeast NM where a few storms may become strong to severe. High temperatures on Thursday will be above normal most areas. && .LONG TERM... (Friday through Tuesday) Issued at 209 PM MDT Wed Aug 2 2023 The staunch high pressure system aloft is forecast to remain centered near the southeast AZ and southwest NM border throughout the long term forecast period. As a result, high temperatures will continue to vary from near normal across the northwest and northeast corners of the forecast area to as much as 15 or 16 degrees above normal across southern areas from day to day producing near record readings. An exception will be Friday when highs will only reach as much as 10 degrees above normal, because the high pressure system will be a little weaker. The high pressure system is forecast to build to around 600 dam at 500 mb this weekend into early next week, which is considered very strong. Drier air will wrap around the upper high and across the forecast area with a sharp downtick in thunderstorm coverage Friday, and almost no storms on Saturday. There could be a few cells with small wetting footprints over the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains and south central mountains Friday, and maybe a cell or two over the east slopes of the northern Sangres on Saturday. The chance for showers and thunderstorms will improve some on Sunday afternoon and evening along and east of the Sangre de Cristos due to a moist backdoor front that sags into that area late Saturday night into Sunday morning. Another moist backdoor front is forecast to push all the way to the east slopes of the central mountain chain and potentially through gaps into the middle and lower Rio Grande Valley Sunday night into Monday morning. After mixing eastward onto the high plains of eastern NM Monday afternoon, the front is forecast to push through gaps in the central mountain chain again Monday night into Tuesday morning. The improved low level moisture with the front may enable isolated showers and thunderstorms to develop from the central mountain chain northeastward across the northeast and east central areas Monday and Tuesday, as well as some gusty and drier variety cells over the west central and southwest mountains. Storms may reach scattered coverage at the peak of afternoon convection from the Sangre de Cristo's eastward Monday and Tuesday. && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 530 PM MDT Wed Aug 2 2023 Isold to wdly sct showers and thunderstorms will continue through the evening hours before dissipating prior to 03/06Z. Gusty outflow wind to 40 kt is the main threat to aviation this evening. Thursday's round of showers and thunderstorms is forecast to shift slightly to the east and southeast as drier air aloft ends storm chances for the northwest quarter including KFMN and KGUP. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 209 PM MDT Wed Aug 2 2023 The Monsoon high is still east of the area and a limited moisture plume will continue to result in rounds of storms through Thursday, although with a small wetting footprint given dry air beginning to work east across northern NM from AZ. A threat for burn scar flooding will likely continue Thursday for the McBride scar. The trend from late week through the weekend is a drying/warning one as the upper high builds back to the west to near the Bootheel and dry westerly flow develops across northern NM. This scenario will bring hot, dry and unstable conditions back to the area, which will likely persist into at least the middle of next week. Chances for wetting storms will trend down during this period and likely be confined to far northeast NM where outflow boundaries and a weak backdoor front will bring added moisture on Sunday and Monday. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 62 91 58 95 / 40 10 5 0 Dulce........................... 52 88 49 90 / 20 10 5 0 Cuba............................ 55 87 56 91 / 50 10 10 0 Gallup.......................... 52 90 52 93 / 40 10 5 0 El Morro........................ 52 87 51 88 / 50 10 10 0 Grants.......................... 53 91 51 92 / 40 10 10 5 Quemado......................... 55 88 55 91 / 50 20 10 5 Magdalena....................... 62 89 63 92 / 40 40 20 10 Datil........................... 55 86 57 89 / 40 20 10 10 Reserve......................... 54 93 53 95 / 40 20 5 5 Glenwood........................ 65 97 65 98 / 40 20 5 5 Chama........................... 49 83 47 84 / 20 20 10 5 Los Alamos...................... 62 88 65 89 / 40 30 10 10 Pecos........................... 60 89 60 90 / 30 20 20 5 Cerro/Questa.................... 48 85 48 87 / 30 10 10 10 Red River....................... 45 78 44 81 / 30 20 10 10 Angel Fire...................... 41 80 39 81 / 20 30 10 10 Taos............................ 51 89 51 90 / 20 10 10 5 Mora............................ 53 85 53 87 / 30 40 10 10 Espanola........................ 60 94 60 96 / 30 10 10 0 Santa Fe........................ 63 89 64 91 / 30 10 10 5 Santa Fe Airport................ 58 93 59 94 / 30 10 10 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 68 94 70 95 / 40 10 10 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 68 95 69 97 / 40 10 10 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 65 97 66 100 / 50 10 10 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 67 95 67 98 / 40 10 10 0 Belen........................... 64 98 65 101 / 50 10 20 0 Bernalillo...................... 64 97 65 100 / 50 10 10 0 Bosque Farms.................... 60 97 61 99 / 50 10 20 0 Corrales........................ 66 96 66 99 / 50 10 10 0 Los Lunas....................... 62 97 63 100 / 50 10 20 0 Placitas........................ 66 94 67 96 / 40 10 10 0 Rio Rancho...................... 67 95 67 98 / 50 10 10 0 Socorro......................... 67 98 68 100 / 40 30 20 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 63 88 62 90 / 40 20 20 0 Tijeras......................... 64 90 63 93 / 40 20 20 0 Edgewood........................ 61 91 60 93 / 30 20 20 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 54 92 54 94 / 30 20 20 0 Clines Corners.................. 58 89 59 91 / 20 20 20 0 Mountainair..................... 61 90 62 93 / 40 20 20 0 Gran Quivira.................... 61 90 63 93 / 40 20 30 5 Carrizozo....................... 65 92 68 96 / 30 30 30 10 Ruidoso......................... 59 83 60 88 / 20 60 30 30 Capulin......................... 58 87 56 86 / 20 60 20 20 Raton........................... 55 90 54 90 / 30 40 10 10 Springer........................ 58 92 55 94 / 20 50 10 10 Las Vegas....................... 57 90 57 92 / 30 30 20 10 Clayton......................... 67 94 62 92 / 20 30 20 10 Roy............................. 64 92 60 93 / 20 40 20 10 Conchas......................... 68 100 65 100 / 20 20 30 5 Santa Rosa...................... 67 97 65 97 / 20 20 30 5 Tucumcari....................... 67 100 66 99 / 20 20 20 0 Clovis.......................... 69 99 69 99 / 10 10 20 0 Portales........................ 70 100 70 101 / 10 10 20 0 Fort Sumner..................... 70 100 69 101 / 20 20 20 0 Roswell......................... 73 104 73 105 / 20 20 10 0 Picacho......................... 65 94 66 97 / 20 50 10 10 Elk............................. 60 90 62 92 / 20 60 10 20 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flood Watch until 9 PM MDT this evening for NMZ226. && SHORT TERM...11 LONG TERM....44 AVIATION...33
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
135 PM MDT Wed Aug 2 2023
NMZ240-022000-
Southwest Chaves County-
135 PM MDT Wed Aug 2 2023
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT PORTIONS OF SOUTHWESTERN CHAVES
COUNTY THROUGH 200 PM MDT...
At 134 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Dunken, or 11 miles northeast of Pinon. This storm was nearly
stationary.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and penny 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...
Dunken.
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 3269 10535 3272 10535 3289 10531 3275 10504
3262 10522
TIME...MOT...LOC 1934Z 211DEG 2KT 3273 10525
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.75 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH
34The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
There was a downed utility pole from a likely strong gust front and microburst ahead of a line of storms moving east from Arizona.
Several trees were blown down in Kiwanis Park from a likely microburst. Individual heard a huge crack when trees fell. The microburst also came with a wall of sand and a possible dust devil.
A greenhouse was damaged from a strong gust front and likely microburst ahead of a line of storms moving east from Arizona.
Wind gust reported at KFMN.
Two utility poles were damaged at the Navajo Dam from strong winds. This was likely caused by a dry microburst ahead of storms moving in from the west.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, August 2023
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: 1105638, 1105639, 1105642, 1106336, 1105665.