Another lovely start to the day, with temperatures quickly rising into this afternoon. Warmth will persist across the state with temperatures potentially a degree or two even warmer than yesterday. Roswell may see their first 90° day of the year, and many places farther north expected to break or tie daily high temperature records once again. Plenty of sunshine across the state early this afternoon before clouds begin increasing across the west.
These clouds will bring plentiful upper level moisture, with a few showers and storms expected along and west of the Continental Divide. To the east, surface levels will be very dry, most likely evaporating any rain that does try to fall to the ground. This will create virga, or dry thunderstorms, which will allow for localized gustier winds. The Albuquerque metro may see a few sprinkles, but not a soaking rain by any means.
Clouds will stick around tonight and into tomorrow as a Pacific front approaches the state. The clouds may keep wind gusts down a bit, but still breezier than Wednesday with gusts 30-50 mph. The highest gusts will be over the mountains. Temperatures will be 5-10 degrees cooler than Wednesday because of the clouds, with virga and light sprinkles possible across the high terrain.
The front will arrive Friday. This will allow winds to be a bit breezier than Thursday, especially with more sunshine expected. Widespread gusts 35-55 mph are possible, higher across the mountainous terrain. Higher terrain in western New Mexico will also have the best potential to see spotty showers, with the Northern Mountains possibly picking up a couple of inches of snow. More sunshine, warming temperatures, and calmer conditions are expected into the weekend.
