Monsoon season has begun in Otero County
ALAMOGORDO — Anyone that has been outside or looked out of a window within the last week has noticed rain every single day accompanied by a show of lighting.
Monsoon season is now in full swing in Otero County and the moisture shows no signs of drying up anytime soon.
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National Weather Service Meteorologist Tom Bird said monsoon season arrived right on time to provide the area with much needed rainfall.
“We’re having a healthy dose of moisture in the atmosphere across Otero County and all the counties of southern New Mexico and even west Texas,” Bird said. “We’ve had the persistent southeast flow which is what we need this time year to bring in moisture to the south. We don’t see any reason to scour that moisture out any time soon, we will see a persistent pattern continue to see moisture over the year.”
Bird said there is deep enough moisture in the atmosphere to see heavy rainfall and even flooding in the next coming week.
“We got deep enough moisture in the atmosphere that we’re seeing heavy duty rainfall and the flooding potential is kind of elevated,” he said. “With that, we’re going to see daily rounds every day with about a 30 to 40 percent chance of rain across Otero County, I don’t see any differences coming up.”
Although monsoon season has been on schedule, the National Weather Service has designated monsoon season in southern New Mexico to be June 15 through Sept. 30.
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“We’re starting monsoon season June 15, which is typically three weeks early,” Bird said. “We treat monsoon season like hurricane season where it has an exact date of when it starts and an absolute date that it stops. The actual moisture typically arrives at the end of the first week of July. July and August are the two prime months for us to get our moisture and our rainfall. Fifty percent of our rainfall is in July.”
Bird also said Tularosa, Sunspot and Timberon have seen flash flood warnings that should not be taken lightly.
According to the National Weather Service’s website, statistics indicate that significant weather events associated with the monsoon are responsible for property damage, injuries and fatalities across the state every single year.
In 2010, monsoon related events were responsible for two fatalities in New Mexico, according to the National Weather Service.
Bird urges residents to take safety precautions that could prevent serious injuries and help save a life.
“Get out of low line areas, low water crossings and don’t drive into large areas of water,” he said. “Our mantra is turn around, don’t drown. Most flash fatalities happen in vehicles because they get swept off the road or flip upside down and the vehicle gets filled with water.”
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The National Weather Service states that the best way to avoid lightning, flash floods and other dangerous weather events during the monsoon season is by staying alert of the weather conditions and avoiding the threat before it occurs.
Many opportunities are available to gain weather information including monitoring current weather forecasts on television or the internet, listening to weather reports on the radio, subscribing to lightning and severe weather notification services and scanning the skies 360 degrees around and overhead before leaving a safe location.
For all the latest weather information on weather watches, warnings and advisories visit the National Weather Service’s website at https://weather.gov/