Flooding in northwest New Mexico has prompted hundreds of rescues and pushed the San Juan River above its prior record, while Sunday forecasts called for more rain over saturated areas nearby.
The National Weather Service (NWS) Grand Junction office maintained a flood watch through Sunday evening for parts of southwest Colorado and southeast Utah. Locations in the southern San Juan Mountains had recorded three to six inches of rain since Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 21, the office said. Additional showers could add runoff to rivers and creeks in the watch area.
In New Mexico, the NWS Albuquerque office forecast storms through Sunday evening. Stronger storms could bring rainfall of one inch or more per hour along and east of the central mountain chain. Saturated soil left parts of northwest and west-central New Mexico vulnerable to flooding even from moderate rain, forecasters said.
Flooding also damaged roads, bridges and culverts in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The town declared a local disaster emergency Thursday, Oct. 22, after flooding prompted evacuations in low-lying areas.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office said law enforcement had reported hundreds of water rescues between Farmington and Bloomfield by Saturday, Oct. 24. The office relayed an NWS estimate that thousands of homes and buildings had been affected, without specifying a total.
At Farmington, the San Juan River reached a level two feet above its previous record on Friday, Oct. 23. The prior record dated to 1909, the governor’s office said. The governor’s office said New Mexico sent about 58 National Guard personnel to San Juan County on Friday and Saturday, among them swift-water rescue teams.
Flooding affected Bloomfield’s Water Reclamation Facility, and untreated wastewater entered the San Juan River. The state said city officials asked residents to limit water use. It was preparing a request for a federal emergency declaration, with damage from the latest flooding to be assessed after the water receded.
Grand Junction forecasters expected much drier weather Monday. Albuquerque forecasters said storms could linger in eastern and southeastern New Mexico, while describing the flash-flood risk as lower.
