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Flash flood warnings from Albuquerque NWS on pace to rival historic high
Vehicles are caught in trees along with debris from the Rio Ruidoso a day after being swept downriver by heavy rains in the village of Ruidoso on July 8.
The Albuquerque National Weather Service office has issued more than 180 flash flood warnings — and counting — this year.
Todd Shoemake, a meteorologist for the Albuquerque office, said the office is “on pace” to rival the record number of warnings issued last year at 278.
Shoemake attributes the rise in warnings issued with a rise in observed flooding events. As of Aug. 15, the office has observed over 200 flooding events.
“Our office will issue the Flash Flood Warning 20-40 minutes before flooding is actually observed for any given location,” Shoemake said in an email. “Sometimes, a Flash Flood Warning may be issued and there are multiple instances of flooding observed within the area covered by that particular warning.”
Additionally, there has been a rise in burn scar- related flooding. In the Ruidoso area, the South Fork and Salt fires burned a combined 24,754 acres . There have been 166 preliminary observed flooding events and 27 alerts issued for the area this year.
Michael Martinez, deputy village manager for Ruidoso, said the village expects the burn scars to impact flooding for the next seven years to a decade. The village has released a new alert system for residents and visitors, and has partnered with businesses on higher ground to create safe zones should lower areas in the village be flooded. But Martinez said more permanent flood mitigation efforts are taking more time.
“A lot of residents right now are very aware of the impacts now of the water and what that water (means) to the community, specifically around the river,” Martinez said. “I think we as a village are actively looking for possible buyout programs the federal government is rolling out. Those haven’t been really made available yet from (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) or (the National Resources Conservation Service), or other federal agencies.”
The Albuquerque NWS office covers a majority of the state. The NWS offices in El Paso and Midland, Texas, are responsible for some areas in southern New Mexico.
