By Jim Owen
Grant County residents are drying out today, after the remnants of Hurricane Odile soaked the area with nearly constant rain for a couple of days.
The precipitation greatly increased the amount of rainfall recorded during this year's "monsoon" season, which was beginning to wind down when the tropical depression hit.
"It wasn't as much (rain) as we originally anticipated," Jason Grzywacz of the National Weather Service told the Beat. "It looked like the Gila area would be under the bullseye (of Odile), but it ended up going further south."
Precipitation totals Tuesday through Thursday included:
-- 1.43 inches at the Grant County Airport (south of Hurley);
-- 1.45 inches one mile west-southwest of Silver City;
-- 1.19 inches near Pinos Altos;
-- 1.87 inches in Tyrone;
-- 2.74 inches 17 miles east of San Lorenzo;
-- 2.82 inches 24 miles south-southwest of Silver City;
-- 2.17 inches nine miles east-northeast of Hanover; and
-- 1.31 inches in Mule Creek.
The heaviest rainfall in the region, according to the National Weather Service, amounted to 4.22 inches in Columbus. Rodeo received 4.06 inches.
The rain fell steadily for a prolonged period, sometimes featuring a heavy mist that is more characteristic of coastal environments. The moisture was a godsend for area ranchers, farmers and gardeners. It recharged water supplies, and at least temporarily abated the wildfire threat.
However, the unusual weather caused some problems. The state Transportation Department closed New Mexico 152 between San Lorenzo and Kingston because of dirt, rocks and vegetation that floodwaters left on the highway. In some places, trees fell onto the road and the pavement was damaged.
A department spokeswoman said crews might not finish clearing the debris and repairing the highway until mid- to late October. Until then, motorists will have use New Mexico 26 (from Deming to Hatch) to reach destinations east of Silver City.
Flooding in the Black Range is more severe than normal because of last year's Silver Fire, which scorched about 140,000 acres. Despite efforts by the Forest Service to reseed the area, the burn scar has insufficient vegetation to contain heavy water flows.
Officials with Grant County Central Dispatch and the Sheriff's Department reported that no other roads had to be closed, and that no traffic accidents resulted from the wet weather.
"We haven't really seen much flooding, because we didn't get the big downpours," Sheriff Raul Villanueva said. He noted that the slow, steady rain "was perfect" in that it provided much-needed moisture with minimal flooding.
The Silver City Fire Department handed out sandbags to residents who live along creeks, but the flooding the people feared did not happen.
Officials in Bayard, Hurley and Santa Clara told the Beat there was no significant flooding in those communities. A spokesman for New Mexico State Police reported that the wet conditions did not cause any traffic accidents.
The forecast calls for a chance of thunderstorms in the Silver City area today through Monday, and from Wednesday through Saturday next week. The rainfall will be scattered and brief, more typical of the monsoon season than this week's tropical precipitation.