2013 Albuquerque Monsoon

Well, hello Monsoon! It's good to see you again! The 2013 Monsoon was a much needed wetter Monsoon for the Albuquerque Metro Area, as well as most of New Mexico. The maps below show the spatial distribution of monsoonal precipitation across Albuquerque for various years. Precipitation totals encompass the dates of June 15th through September 30th. These maps could only be possible thanks to the dedicated members of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) Network which help fill in the gaps across Albuquerque. However, there are still many areas in southwest Albuquerque that are not represented well due to a lack of observations. If you want to be a CoCoRaHS observer, visit the webpage above!

The map below represents the 2013 Monsoon precipitation totals across the metro area. These should be the final totals for the season, as no additional rain is expected through the end of September. Based on received rainfall reports, everyone in the metro area received over 5 inches of rain, and some areas received over 10! The rain was a welcome sight for many, though in most cases, the rain came faster than what soils could absorb.

Spatial Distribution of Monsoonal Precipitation across Albuquerque in 2013

Key

2013

At the Albuquerque Sunport, the Monsoon precipitation total was 7.16 inches, which makes it the 6th wettest Monsoon on record! Some of the lowest totals for 2013 were found near or just west of the Rio Grande, namely near Montano and Coors Blvd and across the North Valley. The enhanced area of precipitation totals, ranging from 10 to 12 inches across the northeast heights, largely stemmed from the back-to-back thunderstorm events on July 26th, where some calendar day totals exceeded 4 to 5 inches.

Spatial Distribution of Monsoonal Precipitation across Albuquerque in 2013

In more recent memory, came the week-long stretch of rainfall in September, which increased rainfall totals exponentially. The tropical nature of the atmosphere resulted in few thunderstorms, but very persistent moderate to heavy rainfall. Though these rains impacted more than just the Albuquerque Metro, the totals during this week-long period accounted for almost half of Albuquerque's Monsoon precipitation. Using the same scale as above, the map to the left shows the distribution of precipitation for the period of September 10th through September 16th. Amounts were fairly homogeneous, but looking closely, the driest area was near the Rio Grande. The west side would have had similar totals if it hadn't been for a northeastward moving thunderstorm on the night of September 13th, which dropped 1.5 to 2 inches of rain. The track of this thunderstorm is evident in the map by the slightly higher rainfall totals stretching from near the Albuquerque Petroglyphs, toward Paradise Hills and into Rio Rancho. For the Albuquerque Sunport, 3.14 inches of rain was recorded during these 7 days, though some areas in the Foothills and in Rio Rancho received over 5 inches! Even only using the 3.14 inches at the official station, this was the wettest 7-day stretch since June 1933!

September 10-16, 2013

Remember last year? Yup, 2012 was a stark contrast to this year. In fact, you'll notice that for many areas, the week-long stretch mentioned above provided more rainfall than all of the 2012 Monsoon Season for most of the metro area. In 2012, the Albuquerque Sunport received 3.36 inches for the entire season. Fortunately, we've more than doubled that this year! In fact, we've more than doubled the season rainfall totals two years in a row. In 2011, the Albuquerque Sunport measured only 1.72 inches. 2011 was the 5th driest Monsoon Season on record. What a difference a few years makes!

2012

At the end of July, many people wondered if we were on track to reach the rainfall totals of 2006. But after a dry August, those questions were put to rest. Nonetheless, the September rains pushed the metro area closer to the totals of 2006. The map to the left shows the precipitation distribution across the metro area from 2006 using the same scale as above. 2006 still ranks as the wettest Monsoon on record, with 9.42 inches measured at the Albuquerque Sunport.

2006

Some more statistics...

The biggest one day rain total at the Sunport was 1.36 inches on July 26th. Following behind this day, the highest calendar day totals included 1.22 inches on September 14th, 0.85 inches on September 10th, 0.60 inches on September 12th and 0.58 inches on September 22nd. These 5 days made up approximately 64% of this years total Monsoon rainfall. The total, 4.61 inches, also happens to be the climatological normal Monsoon rainfall in Albuquerque. We received normal Monsoon rainfall in only 5 days!

Preliminary rainfall totals at the Albuquerque Foothills show 7.75 inches of precipitation for the period, which is a little above normal (7.23 inches) for the location. Last year, the foothills only recorded 2.51 inches of precipitation, or approximately 35 percent of normal. Preliminary rainfall totals at the Albuquerque Valley show 8.56 inches of rain this season. Last year, the valley received just over 4 inches. Normal rainfall for the valley during Monsoon Season is 4.78 inches. In 2006, the Albuquerque Foothills received 16.65 inches of precipitation while the Albuquerque Valley 8.99 inches. 2013 ranks as the 8th wettest Monsoon for the foothills and 2nd wettest for the valley since records began.

We mentioned that 2013 ranks as the 6th wettest Monsoon for the Albuquerque area. Here are Top 5 wettest and driest Monsoon's on record.

Top 5 Wettest Monsoon's		Top 5 Driest Monsoon's
Precipitation	Year	Precipitation	Year
9.42	2006	1.46	2003
9.10	1988	1.53	1953
8.83	1933	1.55	1905
7.29	1919	1.59	1917
7.18	1940	1.72	2011

If you missed how July 2013 compared to July 2012, you can check it out here.

If you missed how August 2013 compared to August 2012, you can check it out here.

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office