Active weather returning to New Mexico

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A more active weather pattern is returning to New Mexico. Heavy rain is possible in parts of the state, with more rain on the way this weekend. Mornings are mostly looking quiet for Balloon Fiesta!

It was a cold morning for the western and northern parts of New Mexico, with temperatures dropping below freezing in Gallup, Grants, and the northern mountains. Durango also dropped below freezing. Santa Fe cooled down into the 30s. This afternoon has warmed up quickly for most areas with high temperatures above average for this time of year. Northeast New Mexico is staying cooler today, though, as a backdoor cold front moves into this part of the state. Storms are also forming this afternoon in southeast New Mexico. The storms will interact with the backdoor cold front in eastern New Mexico later this evening to bring heavier rain and potentially hail. Showers will likely continue behind the front in eastern and northeastern New Mexico overnight as the front pushes south and west across the entire state by Tuesday morning.

Winds are looking light for Day 4 of Balloon Fiesta. Light northerly, and sometimes variable, winds are likely on the ground, becoming more easterly then southwesterly aloft. This means a box effect is likely on Tuesday morning. Temperatures will be down around 50° at 7:00 a.m. Parts of southeast and eastern New Mexico will likely wake up to showers and storms Tuesday morning, which could continue into the afternoon. High temperatures will be cooler on Tuesday thanks to the cold front. Forecast models are predicting a line of strong to severe storms moving into the Albuquerque Metro around 5 PM Tuesday. These storms could bring heavy rain, strong winds, and hail. They’ll quickly move east out of the Rio Grande Valley, but showers and storms will again stick around the eastern half of the state overnight into Wednesday morning.

Winds are again expected to be light for Day 5 of Balloon Fiesta. Light northerly winds at the ground will switch to southerly aloft, again bringing us a box effect on Wednesday morning. Temperatures will be warmer, in the mid to low 50s. Another round of showers and storms will develop by the afternoon across most of western, central, and northern New Mexico. Again, these storms could drop heavy rain.

Cloudier weather will move in on Thursday and Friday, limiting showers and storms. Rain will still be possible, though in parts of western, central, and northern New Mexico. Mornings at Balloon Fiesta look nice! With warmer low temperatures and a box effect still setting up! The evening will bring a chance for rain, though on Thursday, but drier weather looks more likely on Friday evening. Our weather continues to get more active this weekend as we get the moisture from a remnant tropical storm. This will likely bring in showers and a couple of thunderstorms to central, western, and northern New Mexico, both in the morning and afternoons. We will continue to monitor how this could impact the last weekend of Fiesta…

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