‘Mixed blessing’: Fire-plagued New Mexico faces excessive monsoon rain ~ The Washington Post

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First it was fires that plagued New Mexico. Now it is potential floods as the summer monsoon season starts with a bang.

A plume of deep tropical moisture wafting over the Southwest, driven by the monsoon, could unleash “excessive rainfall” through Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

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While the rainfall is welcome news in a landscape parched by widespread drought and charred by historically large fires, it may be too much of a good thing.

“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” wrote the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, which issued a flash flood watch for much of central and western New Mexico.

The flash flood watch zones include the areas where New Mexico’s two largest blazes on record still rage — the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak and Black fires.

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