This is about as close to a supercell-type structure as you ever see west of the central mountains in New Mexico. This cell produced a radar-indicated 3 inches of rain northwest of Santa Fe, and almost certainly some fairly copious hail in localized areas. As it moved into Santa Fe, it produced an intense barrage of cloud-to-ground lightning in Santa Fe:
This, however, was pretty much the last hurrah for this cell, as its inflow was cut off by a new stronger storm just to its southwest. The new cell quickly became the storm of the day, getting the first of three severe thunderstorm warnings as it dumped large quantities of hail and torrential rain on I-25 at La Bajada Hill. TV news video from this area showed the ground completely covered by hail with the freeway's median turned into a river. As the storm continued south, it produced multiple reports of 60 mph wind, flash flooding, and at least golfball sized hail, with some media reports indicating tennis ball to softball sized hail in the Edgewood area, where there were also reports of accumulations of up to a foot of hail, necessitating the use of a snowplow. The most serious consequence of the storm was the shutdown of the commuter rail line between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, when a bridge was overtopped by three inches by floodwater. One train made it through at 2 mph, but after that the tracks were deemed unsafe, and the line remained closed the following day for inspections and emergency repairs.
Here are some links to various media reports on the storm:
KOB News 4 story on flooded commuter rail line
Slideshow of flooding and hail on the Santo Domingo (Kewa) Pueblo, from News 4
Article on hail damage around Edgewood, from KRQE-TV
Article on the flooded rail line and video of the flood, from the Santa Fe New Mexican
Here are some local storm reports from the Albuquerque NWS:
.TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON .DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE. ..REMARKS.. 0827 PM FLASH FLOOD SANDIA PUEBLO 35.26N 106.57W 08/16/2012 SANDOVAL NM LAW ENFORCEMENT FLASH FLOODING ON ROUTE 313 WHERE IT CROSSES SANDIA WASH 0636 PM TSTM WND DMG 6 N EDGEWOOD 35.15N 106.19W 08/16/2012 SANTA FE NM NWS EMPLOYEE 7 INCH DIAMETER TREE KNOCKED DOWN. 0636 PM HAIL 6 N EDGEWOOD 35.15N 106.19W 08/16/2012 E1.75 INCH SANTA FE NM NWS EMPLOYEE CORRECTION...GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL STONES OBSERVED 0820 PM FLASH FLOOD 1 N SANDIA PUEBLO 35.27N 106.57W 08/16/2012 SANDOVAL NM EMERGENCY MNGR WATER AND DEBRIS OVER NM313 NEAR SANDIA WASH. 0735 PM FLASH FLOOD 6 N EDGEWOOD 35.14N 106.19W 08/16/2012 SANTA FE NM NWS EMPLOYEE 0600 PM FLASH FLOOD PENA BLANCA 35.57N 106.34W 08/16/2012 SANDOVAL NM LAW ENFORCEMENT RAIL RUNNER TRAIN STUCK IN PENA BLANCA AROUND 6 PM BECAUSE PART OF THE TRACK WAS WASHED AWAY. 0636 PM HAIL 6 N EDGEWOOD 35.15N 106.19W 08/16/2012 E4.50 INCH SANTA FE NM NWS EMPLOYEE 0609 PM HAIL GOLDEN 35.27N 106.21W 08/16/2012 E1.00 INCH SANTA FE NM CO-OP OBSERVER 0535 PM TSTM WND GST MADRID 35.41N 106.15W 08/16/2012 E60 MPH SANTA FE NM PUBLIC 0535 PM TSTM WND GST SAN FELIPE PUEBLO 35.43N 106.45W 08/16/2012 E60 MPH SANDOVAL NM PUBLICReturn to 2012 Severe Weather Observation page