Topic: One thing about New Mexico...

[Farmtalk]

You wouldnt want severe thunderstorms, because that could cause wildfires wouldnt it?

[Cienega32]

Absolutely - especially with what we've been dealing with. All of the wilderness areas are of concern. The Gila Wilderness is still burning - 90,000 acres so far but 75% contained.

Flash flooding is another aspect, with the ground being as baked as it is. Not that this soil is real absorbent to begin with.

NM Has fires burning all over the place: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=206873134471078177340.00049d5aeb98bd33b86bb&source=embed&ll=33.183537,-104.024048&spn=1.962961,4.938354&t=h&z=8

EDIT - I "stole" the embed link for a page:  http://www.lascruces-weather.com/wxnmfires.php

[Farmtalk]

In a good soaker, you guys could probably get 2 inches in 30 minutes.

[Cienega32]

In a good soaker, you guys could probably get 2 inches in 30 minutes.

September 11th, 2009 - 2.08" in the bucket over about 40 minutes, complete with marble size hail for 30 of it and howling winds.

Temps dropped about 30 degrees in the hour before it hit.

[Farmtalk]

August 30th, 2006: 2.8 inches in 45 minutes, flash flooding, strong winds, and pea sized hail.

[Chris H.]

20% isnt very high.....Isolated thunderstorms?

For me, being in the El Paso broadcast region, that usually means somewhere in that region there's a 1 in 5 chance some rain might fall based on past history with similar conditions. That can boil down to cloud burst 40 miles away...

But just seeing ANY% chance and not the wind turbine icons is pretty exciting

It's now centered on TUES nite and mentions 'Severe T-storms'.

They just downplayed my area to partly cloudy...with the only chance of rain being 10% Wednesday night. Et tu, Albuquerque WFO?

[Farmtalk]

Then kill Caesar! (Or the soil?)

Hope your area's drought streak ends soon.

Is this a record drought for you all?

[Chris H.]

July 30th, 2006, 4:27-5:15 PM: Heavy rain and a dark western sky (so dark, it looked like a cloudy morning outside)...rain starts falling...and in five minutes, my street was beyond curb-full flood stage. The rain gauge that my neighbor had (since I didn't obtain mine until January 2007) recorded 2.7" rainfall. No hail fell, but the winds hit about 60 mph at times (though no warning except Flash Flood was issued).

October 11th, 2008, 1:30-2:15 PM: Powerful cold front with plenty of moisture ahead of it was making its way through central and northern New Mexico. What started out as a 30% thunderstorm forecast became a 40% severe thunderstorm forecast. Within minutes of hearing the weather radio go off, I looked out the window and saw this ominous dark mass moving ENE...rained 1.2" in just 30 minutes, along with golf ball sized hail and 70 mph winds that knocked loose the water feed pipe to the cooler. Another severe storm behind it blew through as well, dumping .75" of rain in just 20 minutes, along with marble sized hail for about five minutes.

The few most significant severe weather that I can remember up here in Albuquerque:

June 28, 2006, sunset: rain for an hour, large hail (golfball to hen egg) and 60-70 mph winds...all in one hour.

September 2002: tornado warning issued because a funnel cloud was reported about two miles to the NE of where my house was. It moved over us, got really, really windy, then it rained for about five minutes and died. I was in 5th grade and was freaking out!

June 2007: severe weather begin at around noon, went past 4 PM before the skies cleared. Tornado reported near I-25 about 25-30 miles N of Albuquerque.
All I got around my house was dark stormy skies and wind. No friggin' rain.

I have pictures of some dark skies during one 4th of July celebration, but I've seemed to have lost those. Dammit.  

[Chris H.]

Then kill Caesar! (Or the soil?)

Hope your area's drought streak ends soon.

Is this a record drought for you all?

I believe it's one of the worst in the last ten years...maybe. Cienega?

[Farmtalk]

I never would have thought that NM got that kind of weather! WV does not get a lot of severe weather, but I THOUGHT that we got more strong storms than you....I was wrong about that!

[Chris H.]

I never would have thought that NM got that kind of weather! WV does not get a lot of severe weather, but I THOUGHT that we got more strong storms than you....I was wrong about that!

Hahahaha!!!!!!! 

We actually get some of the crappiest weather you can imagine. New Mexico's weather is what some call "bipolar".

We may not see baseball sized hail (happens every 20 years or so), but we do see some hail, and the occasional tornado (more or less a land spout to be honest). Our biggest threat out here is flooding because we're so dry...and we have a lot of stupid people going into flooded arroyos.

[Farmtalk]

Flooding is our main problem here because a lot of rain collects from the hilly mountains. The steepness of the mountains prevents a lot of water from seeping in the soil due to gravity...


We average 2 tornadoes a year, but I can think of 3 in the past 3 years.

[Chris H.]

Flooding is our main problem here because a lot of rain collects from the hilly mountains. The steepness of the mountains prevents a lot of water from seeping in the soil due to gravity...


We average 2 tornadoes a year, but I can think of 3 in the past 3 years.

Steeper than these?

Sandia Mountains (east of Albuquerque)


Organ Mountains (east of Las Cruces)


Franklin Mountains (El Paso, TX)


The Franklin and Organ ranges have a lot of desert vegetation, hardly any trees (I might be wrong about that with the Organ Mtns.) and when it rains, it does flood arroyos. I think that's the main difference between New Mexico and West Virginia. Drainage channels (feel free to correct me).

[Farmtalk]

You are correct....Our mountains generally run only from 2-4K feet, while looking at a topography map, yours looks to achieve 8K rather easily....

I wish there were a little more action around here sometimes...

[Chris H.]

There's one thing about titled block ranges (all three of those ranges fall under that category - to some extent for the Organs)

It's dry on one side, wet on the other. Albuquerque and certain parts of El Paso remain dry when thunderstorms develop behind them (the lesser steep side...if a fire breaks out - which has happened on the eastern slopes of the Sandias a few years back- the floods are horrible.) Eastern communities on the other side of the Sandias do see occasional flooding.

A lot of areas downstream from Albuquerque see roadway flooding because of under-developed drainage channels (Albuquerque's are mostly paved, some aren't but have tall banks exceeding 20 feet in a very steep angle).

[Farmtalk]

Would you call that a rain shadow?

[Chris H.]

Would you call that a rain shadow?

Yep.

[Farmtalk]

You could say that there is a semi-rain shadow on the Appalachian Mountains. West of the Apps, and you average around 45 inches of rain per year. East of the Apps, and you average around only 30 inches.

[Chris H.]

You could say that there is a semi-rain shadow on the Appalachian Mountains. West of the Apps, and you average around 45 inches of rain per year. East of the Apps, and you average around only 30 inches.

Well, about 90% of New Mexico is desert. If it rains, it's far less than your area.

[Farmtalk]

Alberquerque averages only about 8 inches a year from what I've read. Charleston, WV averages 44 inches a year.

[Cienega32]

Since Apr 2007, I've had 42.87 of recorded rainfall over 191 days of rain (1,520 days). How's that measure up against your area, Farmtalk? 

The thing is, being the desert and having Monsoon as an actual NWS season, I had less than 1/2" of 2008 rain going into July. By July 27th, I had 9" more. 2006 was worse, as far as Monsoon, and was what made me commit to a PWS purchase. I wanted one for a while but that year cinched it for me. Last year I only had 7.27" total.

The on-going drought is an all-time record for El Paso and I would imagine for Las Cruces as well. Since the snow on Feb 2nd melted on Feb 5th at my site, it's been 115 days. El Paso shows the last precip as Feb 2nd.

Now we show 20% Wed and 10% Thu - both days/nites showing "Isolated Tstorms". They think we'll suck up some that Gulf moisture that's been brewing.

[Farmtalk]

I have probably gotten 4 times that amount in that time!!!!!

[Chris H.]

They went from 10% Wednesday night to 10% Wednesday, Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night. 

But it's only 10%.

[Farmtalk]

If you get rain, go to Vegas Chris!

[Cienega32]

I just hope I'm far enough north and east to miss some of the more severe aspects of this "Special Weather Statement":

Message summary: ...first thunderstorms of the summer season are possible today...
A southeast flow will bring a of surge moisture into eastern portions of hudspeth and otero counties later this afternoon. Moisture is expected to push further west into el paso and parts of dona ana counties this evening. As result of the increased moisture...thunderstorms will be possible over portions of the area east of the rio grande late this afternoon and evening. The timing and amount of moisture available will affect the intensity and coverage of thunderstorm activity...which is expected to be more isolated in nature. Moist and unstable conditions may allow a few of the storms to approach severe criteria of larger sized hail and wind gusts over 55 mph. As the evening progresses...
Outflows from previous thunderstorms may aid further development more to the west in el paso and dona ana counties...but the storms may not be as strong. After tonight...the moisture will become concentrated into a plume between high pressure to the east and a southwest flow to the west. The plume of moisture will remain over south central new mexico and far west texas wednesday and thursday with additional thunderstorms possible. These high based thunderstorms will be capable of producing spotty rainfall and strong wind gusts in excess of 50 mph. Blowing dust from thunderstorm winds may temporarily reduce visibility in dust prone areas.