Chillier temperatures returned this Saturday for the northern half of the state. It was a sunny day, but the stronger northwesterly winds kept below average temps over northern and central New Mexico. Highs only climbed into the middle 50s for Taos, Clayton, and Las Vegas. Wind gusts peaked 30-40 mph from the backdoor cold front. With that said, extremely dry air is now arriving. Temperatures are now dropping quickly as most areas will reach below freezing come Sunday morning. The plus side of this, we’re looking at improving conditions for the Jemez as flooding will not be a major issue this weekend going forward.
Sunday will by far be the best day in the weekend with warming temps, sunny skies, and lighter breezes in the afternoon. Only southeastern NM will cool several degrees from the backdoor front. Otherwise, the rest of the state warms up from southerly winds. Stronger gusts are likely for southwest NM into the Gila. But we’ll climb above average and begin our warming trend. We’ll be back in the lower 70s in the Rio Grande Valley and 80s south. Come Monday clouds begin increasing as well as breezier conditions statewide. This brings widespread 80° temperatures for all of southern and eastern New Mexico. The windiest days next week will be Tuesday and Wednesday as a scraper storm system brushes our state. We all stay dry, but we’ll see stronger winds with increasing fire danger.
