Ruidoso, NM: Flood of 2024: June 30 Flash Flood

(Satellite)

This is one of the flood incidents of 2024.

Two screenshots from a 1:26 video posted by Jesus Figueroa with the comment: "Ruidoso NM June 30,2024 4:45pm highway 70 is a disaster."

1
[You need to play the video to see how fast the water is flowing.]

Note the flow of water behind the vehicles against the buildings.

2

Ruidoso is a town built in a canyon, so a rainstorm can create a flash flood rather easily. And burn scars have aggravated the severity of the flooding. ("Strong, intense wildfires can destroy vegetation and even burn the soil. Burned vegetation and soil creates an area called a burn scar, which decreases infiltration and contributes to flooding. Consequently, the next rain event over a burn scar area can trigger a significant flash flood or even a dangerous debris flow." [asu] In fact, "The FOX Forecast Center will be closely monitoring areas with burn scars created by recent fires, especially around Ruidoso, New Mexico." [FOXweather])

2004/2006 Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs Quads @ 24,000

0:12 video
⚠️ The Upper Canyon area of Ruidoso is under an evacuation due to flash flooding. Video courtesy of Rafael Salas.

The tree in the middle just fell over. And the white thing is floating down the "river."

Facebook reel

The white pickup truck is being shoved down the road by the water.

0:26 video

In fact, the water pushed an 18-wheeler tank truck down the road.

1:28 video, cropped

This is supposed to be a street, not a river. And this is after just 10 minutes of rain.

Facebook reel

Instagram

I assume this was the same storm system that hit Ruidoso.

Meteorologist Grant Tosterud posted
Yesterday's [Jun 29, 2024] storm in Albuquerque dropped 1/3 of our normal monsoon season rainfall in about an hour! With nearly 1.48" of rain, it was the 18th rainiest day on record in Albuquerque, and brought us up to the 7th wettest June on record.