Flash Flood At Ojo de Amado (Bursum Springs)

John W. saw this on the Topix news page for Socorro, which was carried on CNN's Ireport video blogging service. What was most impressive was the story was only a day old when John saw it: essentially brand new!:

Published on Jul 3, 2013

I was taking lighting photos on July 2nd 2013 just off the Quebrada Backcountry Byway, at the Ojo de Amado spring, when I captured this video, and some images of a fantastic flash flood.

I knew this area would be likely to flood, and I was awed by the power and ferocity of the flow. This is normally a dry channel with a small little pool of water that attracts birds and other wildlife.

Heavy rains have hit New Mexico tonight, with areas in neighboring Catron County receiving up to 2.5 inches of rain according to total precipitation maps. The Quebradas area received between 1 and 2 inches total, and the arroyos are filled to levels beyond what I've seen here before.

The roaring of the water was simply incredible.

Thank goodness, we've been so desperate for this rain - we'll take it however we get it, let's just hope that everyone stays safe out here tonight.

I posted this on Facebook, and Walt was amazed. We were familiar with this place back when we went to NM Tech together, but it's so strange to see a brand-new video about an exceedingly-obscure place like Ojo de Amado spring.

My sister wondered:

Wow! So who was the nut with the camera at the arroyo? Curious...that person must have known the gush of water from the storm was on the way...

I replied:

Beats me! His story mentions something about hunting for lightning pictures when he saw the flood. I wonder if he's based at Tech?

Walt and I had a running joke about the immediate area. When we hiked on the hillsides, I could see the rows of rocks indicated man-made disturbance: possibly Indian ruins. With his East Coast eye, though, Walt was skeptical. To him, it just looked too natural. So, I started looking more closely. Even as I pulled pottery shard after arrowhead after metate from the rocks, Walt feigned total skepticism. A source of amusement to us both. Apparently the spring was a Piro Indian home hundreds of years ago. So, a fond memory ....