May 13-15, 2008: Much Needed Rain Across New Mexico

A storm over the Pacific Northwest on the 11th, dropped southeast into Utah on the 12th, then moved south into Arizona on the 13th. Strong winds over most of the state were the first impact from this storm on the 12th. Isolated showers and thunderstorms began over the northwest on the 13th, initially with little in the way of rain. A cold front dropped south over the state later on the 13th through the late night hours of the 14th. A significant increase in moisture behind the front, combined with the storm moving in from Arizona, led to scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms over New Mexico on the 14th, along with some high mountain snow. The water vapor satellite image below and to the left shows the storm over southwest New Mexico during the early morning of the 14th, while the radar image below and to the right reveals the extensive precipitation over eastern New Mexico on the morning of the 14th.

The increase in moisture behind the cold front can be seen on the surface dewpoints loop below from the 12th to the 14th.

A second storm moved into New Mexico on the 15th from the north, providing another round of beneficial rains to many areas of the state. The radar image below displays widespread rain over the state during the early afternoon hours of the 15th. Rain gradually moved south out of New Mexico on the 16th.

Total Rainfall May 13-15th (inches)
Location	Amount
Manzano	1.87
Angel Fire 13SE	1.11
Roswell	1.08
Las Vegas	1.02
Datil	1.00
Melrose	0.97
Cannon AFB	0.89
Taos	0.85
Santa Fe	0.80
Sierra Blanca Arpt	0.80
Tres Piedras	0.78
Capitan	0.74
Ragland	0.73
Tucumcari 4NE	0.73
Ruidoso	0.71