TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT MONSOON SEASON IN NEW MEXICO. ALBUQUERQUE CAN GET UP TO 40-PERCENT OF ITS YEARLY RAINFALL FROM THE MONSOONS, BUT IT ALSO MEANS THE THREAT OF FLASH FLOODING. AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGIST JASON FRAZIER SAYS THAT CAN BE DEADLY. HE SAYS THERE HAVE BEEN 64 NEW MEXICANS WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES TO FLASH FLOODS SINCE 1959. THAT INCLUDES FOUR PEOPLE WHO DIED IN FLASH FLOODS LAST YEAR.
MONSOON SEASON USUALLY BEGINS IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO IN LATE JUNE. FRAZIER SAYS, WITH THE ONSET OF AN "EL NINO" PATTERN, IT LOOKS LIKE THE MONSOONS THIS YEAR COULD BE ABOVE AVERAGE IN TERMS OF RAINFALL.
