Winds are dying down Wednesday night, but breezy conditions return Thursday. A pattern change will bring widespread rain chances starting Saturday.
Winds have were gusting over 50 mph across parts of New Mexico Wednesday. Those same winds are still breezy tonight, but not nearly as strong as this afternoon. The fire danger is also coming down tonight as the winds die down, but breezy conditions overnight could still be an issue for the Las Tusas Fire that started Wednesday afternoon. A cold front will be sweeping across New Mexico overnight and will bring high temperatures closer to average Thursday afternoon. Winds will pick up again Thursday afternoon, gusting out of the west around 25 to 45 mph. This will once again bring a high fire danger to areas along and north of I-40. Quieter and warmer weather returns for Friday.
A big pattern change is still in store starting late Friday night. A surge of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will combine with a backdoor cold front to bring in an increase in moisture all across the state by Saturday morning. This will help produce scattered showers and thunderstorms all across New Mexico this weekend, with a higher chance for rain on Sunday. This pattern will stick around through much of next week.
