textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 500 AM MDT Sun Apr 5 2026

- Freezing temperatures will occur once again early this morning in a few valley locations, including Farmington, Santa Fe, Espanola, Moriarty, and Estancia. Folks should be prepared to protect plants, pets, and pipes from a damaging freeze event.

- Seasonable temperatures return with chances for showers and storms Monday and Tuesday. Main hazards will be gusty and erratic winds and dry lightning, which could lead to future fire starts. Low confidence exists for wetting rainfall.

- After a quiet and warmer Wednesday, more unsettled weather will round out the week with chances for showers, thunderstorms and gusty winds.

SHORT TERM

(Tonight through Tuesday) Issued at 105 AM MDT Sun Apr 5 2026

Quiet, albeit chilly, conditions will continue overnight with passing high clouds. Southeasterly flow has developed at the surface for most areas as winds veer in the wake of Friday's frontal passage. At H7, a mid level high has developed over the Panhandles, allowing for deep southeasterly flow over NM. This is slowly but surely pulling pooled moisture over TX into NM, though the effects of that may not really be seen for at least another 24 hours. Nonetheless, there should be enough mid level moisture present this afternoon for virga showers or perhaps a few sprinkles over the Southwest Mountains as a weak shortwave trough passes over southern NM. Though these showers will be capable of gusty and erratic winds, they otherwise won't be terribly exciting. However, top-down moistening will be underway there and over southern NM from these showers. On Sunday night and Monday, winds will veer around to the south and will pull this modest moisture northward across the state. Meanwhile, another slightly stronger shortwave will approach NM from the west and with it will come additional Pacific moisture. Weak forcing from this shortwave combined with the increased moisture will allow showers and perhaps a few thunderstorms to develop across western NM late Monday afternoon and evening. As the shortwave continues to shift eastward across the state through Tuesday, precipitation will expand eastward as well. Thunderstorms are not expected during the overnight hours, but a few thunderstorms are possible once again Tuesday afternoon though instability is extremely limited. Precipitation amounts will be light overall, with most areas struggling to reach 0.10" of rain. Gusty winds associated with the shower and thunderstorm activity will be possible Monday afternoon and evening, but confidence is waning that there will be much of that on Tuesday given near saturated forecast sounding profiles.

Other than the precipitation chances, the other main concern will be gusty south to southwest winds across northeast NM both today and Monday. With this area being the last to receive the benefits of any increased moisture, near-critical fire weather conditions will be a concern. Gusts near 35 mph are expected each afternoon. High temperatures areawide will vary little over the next few days, with 60s and low 70s common.

LONG TERM

(Tuesday night through next Saturday) Issued at 105 AM MDT Sun Apr 5 2026

Any remaining precipitation across central and eastern NM will wane Tuesday evening. Drier air will filter in from the west on Wednesday. The lack of cloud cover and precipitation combined with westerly flow and warm aid advection will allow temperatures to climb. A surface low over NE NM will allow downsloping winds to modestly increase, and compressional warming will aid in increasing temps across eastern NM. All-in-all, high temperatures on Wed will be 5 to 15 degrees warmer than on Tue, with the greatest increases across eastern NM. Outside of a few breezes, should be a gorgeous day overall.

Though the details of the Thursday through Saturday period remain murky, the big picture is that a closed low Pacific storm system will trek from the coast of CA toward NM thru the period. While that is occurring, low level return flow will bring Gulf moisture into at least eastern NM with a few storms developing as early as Thursday, but Friday appears more likely. The main concerns are how fast the Pacific system will shift eastward, particularly Fri/Sat which will have an impact on how far west the low level moisture will reach. A slower system will allow moisture to reach as far west as the ContDvd with scattered to numerous storms nearly areawide, but a faster system will limit the moisture to eastern NM and bring stronger winds to the remainder of the area. Stay tuned.

AVIATION

(12Z TAFS) Issued at 505 AM MDT Sun Apr 5 2026

VFR conditions will prevail for the next 24 hours. High clouds will continue to pass over the southern half of the area through the overnight hours. This afternoon, southerly winds will increase along and east of the Central Mtn Chain with gusts near 30kt across northeast NM, and near 20 to 25 kt elsewhere, including KROW. Increasing moisture across southern areas will allow mid level clouds to continue to develop. Late this afternoon, virga or very light showers will develop across the Southwest Mountains. These showers will be capable of gusty and erratic winds before diminishing this evening. Winds will also weaken thus eve across eastern NM, except across far NE NM where gusty winds will persist through the overnight hours.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 105 AM MDT Sun Apr 5 2026

Near-critical fire weather conditions will develop this afternoon across the northeast highlands as southerly winds approach critical criteria and RH values fall below 15 percent. Would not be surprised to see 1 to 3 hours of critical fire weather conditions between Raton and Las Vegas along the I-25 corridor. Similar conditions are expected on Monday across the northeast highlands and northeast plains. South to southwest winds will approach critical criteria for 1 to 3 hours while RH values fall to near 15 percent. Will continue to watch this area for a possible Fire Weather Watch, but increasing clouds throughout the afternoon may limit mixing so have held off on a watch for now. Light rainfall will impact the area from west to east Monday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon/eve, but wetting rainfall will be scarce. Warmer and drier conditions are expected Wednesday, then more unsettled weather will round out the week. Gulf moisture should advect into at least eastern NM bringing a chance for shower and thunderstorms Thursday through Saturday, but precipitation chances will depend on the timing of a Pacific storm system across western NM.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 71 41 71 43 / 0 0 5 20 Dulce........................... 68 28 67 31 / 0 0 10 20 Cuba............................ 64 33 64 36 / 0 0 5 20 Gallup.......................... 70 32 69 36 / 5 0 10 30 El Morro........................ 66 36 65 38 / 5 5 10 40 Grants.......................... 68 33 67 36 / 0 0 10 30 Quemado......................... 67 38 66 40 / 10 5 20 40 Magdalena....................... 65 38 63 43 / 10 5 10 30 Datil........................... 63 36 62 40 / 10 5 20 40 Reserve......................... 70 31 68 37 / 20 10 20 40 Glenwood........................ 74 34 71 40 / 10 5 20 40 Chama........................... 61 29 61 31 / 0 0 20 20 Los Alamos...................... 63 39 63 41 / 0 0 5 20 Pecos........................... 62 31 64 35 / 0 0 5 10 Cerro/Questa.................... 61 32 63 35 / 0 0 20 20 Red River....................... 52 28 54 30 / 0 0 20 20 Angel Fire...................... 57 19 60 25 / 0 0 10 20 Taos............................ 65 28 67 32 / 0 0 10 20 Mora............................ 60 30 63 32 / 0 0 5 10 Espanola........................ 70 36 70 37 / 0 0 5 10 Santa Fe........................ 64 37 65 40 / 0 0 5 10 Santa Fe Airport................ 67 34 67 39 / 0 0 5 10 Albuquerque Foothills........... 70 44 68 47 / 0 0 0 20 Albuquerque Heights............. 71 42 70 46 / 0 0 0 20 Albuquerque Valley.............. 73 39 72 45 / 0 0 0 20 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 71 42 70 46 / 0 0 0 20 Belen........................... 73 37 71 43 / 0 0 0 20 Bernalillo...................... 72 40 71 45 / 0 0 0 20 Bosque Farms.................... 73 35 71 42 / 0 0 0 20 Corrales........................ 72 40 71 45 / 0 0 0 20 Los Lunas....................... 73 36 71 43 / 0 0 0 20 Placitas........................ 69 42 68 46 / 0 0 0 20 Rio Rancho...................... 72 43 70 46 / 0 0 0 20 Socorro......................... 73 41 70 46 / 5 5 5 30 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 64 38 64 42 / 0 0 0 20 Tijeras......................... 66 39 66 43 / 0 0 0 20 Edgewood........................ 66 35 67 39 / 0 0 0 20 Moriarty/Estancia............... 67 24 67 34 / 0 0 0 20 Clines Corners.................. 61 31 63 38 / 0 0 0 10 Mountainair..................... 65 32 65 40 / 5 5 0 20 Gran Quivira.................... 65 31 65 40 / 5 5 0 20 Carrizozo....................... 66 36 65 44 / 10 10 0 30 Ruidoso......................... 56 32 58 40 / 10 10 5 30 Capulin......................... 62 33 65 33 / 0 0 5 10 Raton........................... 66 28 69 31 / 0 0 5 10 Springer........................ 67 29 70 33 / 0 0 5 5 Las Vegas....................... 61 29 64 34 / 0 0 0 5 Clayton......................... 68 41 71 40 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 65 34 66 37 / 0 0 0 5 Conchas......................... 72 34 73 40 / 0 0 0 5 Santa Rosa...................... 67 33 69 40 / 0 0 0 5 Tucumcari....................... 73 38 74 41 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 69 36 71 42 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 70 34 72 41 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 70 33 70 41 / 0 0 0 5 Roswell......................... 70 39 70 46 / 5 5 0 10 Picacho......................... 63 35 65 41 / 5 5 0 20 Elk............................. 59 31 62 39 / 10 5 0 30

ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.