textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 1051 AM MST Tue Jan 13 2026

- Several repeated, weak backdoor cold fronts will create brisk northeast winds and cooling over eastern New Mexico on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday. Despite these fronts, dry conditions with mostly above average temperatures will persist areawide.

SHORT TERM

(This afternoon through Wednesday) Issued at 1051 AM MST Tue Jan 13 2026

The weather pattern will remain dry and relatively mild for northern and central NM, not just during the short term, but also for the next several days as a highly amplified upper level flow regime prevails. A very anomalously strong ridge of high pressure is swelling over the west coast while a deep longwave trough is getting carved out over the eastern ConUS. Meridional flow will persist near or just east of NM, offering several dry and mostly weak surface fronts, especially for the eastern half of the state.

The first such front will settle into NM tonight into early Wednesday morning. Northerly winds will turn a bit gusty in the eastern plains with locales along the eastern border with west TX observing a few gusts as high as 25 to 30 mph by early tomorrow afternoon. Temperatures will drop 5 to 10 degrees, but will still stay near to slightly above normal Wednesday. Snow melt is still occurring, especially in the San Juan basin / northwest plateau, so projected highs in the mid to upper 40's on Wednesday may be a bit ambitious. A few batches of lower based clouds will stream southward across southeastern CO, northeast NM, and the nearby panhandles Wednesday as the front builds in, but otherwise just high, fair weather cirrus will be observed.

LONG TERM

(Wednesday night through next Monday) Issued at 1051 AM MST Tue Jan 13 2026

A lee-side surface trough will develop on Thursday which will bring some moderate west or northwest breezes to many zones. Winds aloft will not support very high gusts, as 700 mb winds are generally projected to stay within a 15 to 30 kt range, but the westerlies will be downsloping into the eastern plains, offering warming via compressional heating. High temperatures over dwindling recent snow pack will run just a few degrees above normal while remaining areas, especially eastern zones, surge up nearly 15 degrees over climatological averages.

The next shortwave dropping into the midwest will then send our subsequent front into NM early Friday morning. Some breeziness will again accompany, particularly in the eastern plains, but there will be a dearth of associated clouds or precipitation. Look for high temperatures to fall back to average on Friday in eastern zones while western areas remain slightly above normal.

A repeated frontal intrusion arrives Saturday with yet another one on Monday, all while dry north northwesterly flow aloft prevails over NM. Again, seasonable temperatures can be expected in eastern zones in the wake of the fronts Saturday and Monday with a temporary spike in between on Sunday.

It will likely be well into the latter part of next week before the north northwest flow begins to back more westerly, however it still appears to remain dry per latest deterministic and probabilistic guidance. This is not surprising, given La Nina conditions and the negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, but recent snowpack will unfortunately continue to melt and sublimate at a rapid pace.

AVIATION

(18Z TAFS) Issued at 1008 AM MST Tue Jan 13 2026

VFR conditions will prevail through the next 24 hours with just high, fair weather cirrus clouds moving in periodically. Breezes will generally be light with occasional moderate gusts to 15 to 25 kt as a dry and fairly weak cold front settles in from the north tonight into Wednesday morning.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 1051 AM MST Tue Jan 13 2026

Dry conditions will prevail with temperatures often running above normal with periodic bouts of cooler temperatures via weak fronts. Winds will turn breezy during these frontal passages, but no critical wind speeds are anticipated. This will keep any critical fire weather concerns at bay for the next several days. Repeated days of poor mixing will be common, as is typical for this time of year, and many locations will suffer from poor smoke ventilation and dispersion, especially in western and central NM.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 40 23 49 23 / 0 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 52 21 54 19 / 0 0 0 0 Cuba............................ 48 20 49 21 / 0 0 0 0 Gallup.......................... 50 17 52 16 / 0 0 0 0 El Morro........................ 52 20 53 19 / 0 0 0 0 Grants.......................... 54 19 54 17 / 0 0 0 0 Quemado......................... 49 21 53 20 / 0 0 0 0 Magdalena....................... 54 30 51 29 / 0 0 0 0 Datil........................... 52 26 50 23 / 0 0 0 0 Reserve......................... 61 23 61 22 / 0 0 0 0 Glenwood........................ 64 25 65 25 / 0 0 0 0 Chama........................... 51 24 48 21 / 0 0 0 0 Los Alamos...................... 50 32 48 30 / 0 0 0 0 Pecos........................... 55 26 49 26 / 0 0 0 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 49 25 46 23 / 0 0 0 0 Red River....................... 43 19 42 15 / 0 0 0 0 Angel Fire...................... 47 7 44 4 / 0 0 0 0 Taos............................ 52 20 50 19 / 0 0 0 0 Mora............................ 58 25 52 26 / 0 0 0 0 Espanola........................ 56 24 54 22 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Fe........................ 51 28 49 27 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 52 26 51 24 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 54 34 54 32 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 55 33 55 31 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 57 27 57 25 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 56 31 55 29 / 0 0 0 0 Belen........................... 56 24 56 24 / 0 0 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 56 30 56 28 / 0 0 0 0 Bosque Farms.................... 56 23 56 22 / 0 0 0 0 Corrales........................ 56 29 56 27 / 0 0 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 56 24 56 23 / 0 0 0 0 Placitas........................ 52 33 52 30 / 0 0 0 0 Rio Rancho...................... 56 31 55 29 / 0 0 0 0 Socorro......................... 58 31 59 30 / 0 0 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 50 30 48 29 / 0 0 0 0 Tijeras......................... 51 31 49 30 / 0 0 0 0 Edgewood........................ 53 29 50 28 / 0 0 0 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 56 22 52 20 / 0 0 0 0 Clines Corners.................. 52 28 47 27 / 0 0 0 0 Mountainair..................... 54 28 51 27 / 0 0 0 0 Gran Quivira.................... 56 28 52 27 / 0 0 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 59 32 58 32 / 0 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 54 28 49 27 / 0 0 0 0 Capulin......................... 54 24 43 22 / 0 0 10 0 Raton........................... 57 23 48 20 / 0 0 0 0 Springer........................ 56 22 49 18 / 0 0 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 60 26 51 25 / 0 0 0 0 Clayton......................... 63 33 50 31 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 59 28 51 26 / 0 0 0 0 Conchas......................... 66 30 58 26 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 64 31 54 29 / 0 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 68 31 57 27 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 67 33 56 31 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 66 31 58 27 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 65 30 57 26 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 63 31 59 29 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 66 33 56 31 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 64 29 55 28 / 0 0 0 0

ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.