Much drier air at the surface has infiltrated southeastern New Mexico. The only part of the state that is still hanging on to a bit of surface moisture is far northeast. This will allow for spotty showers and isolated storms to form over the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and push east across the lower elevations. Union county has the best chance to see strong to possibly severe storms including hail and damaging winds.
While the northeast will see surface moisture, the rest of the state will see upper level moisture streaming from southwest to northeast throughout the afternoon. Upper level clouds will block out much of the sunlight and heat, keeping temperatures below average once again even with the dry air. Far northeastern New Mexico (near Union County) has the potential to see isolated afternoon storms all weekend.
Dry air will continue to push across the western and southern parts of the state this weekend. This will allow temperatures to rise a few degrees into Sunday before a backdoor cold front pushes across the state. This will bring cooler temperatures to kick off next week, along with more scattered showers and storms Sunday and into early Monday across the Northern Mountains and eastern New Mexico. More dry air and westerly winds will return by late next week, with many places expecting to see their warmest temperatures so far this year.
