textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 1218 PM MDT Wed Mar 25 2026

- Record heat continues through Thursday with a minor risk of heat-related illness for sensitive groups.

- Risk for rapid fire spread along and east of the central mountain chain Thursday afternoon. Dry lightning from virga and dry thunderstorms over western and central New Mexico this weekend may cause new fire starts.

- Hazardous crosswinds for large vehicles push across eastern NM Thursday night before moving through the canyon gaps of the central mountain chain Friday.

SHORT TERM

(This evening through Thursday night) Issued at 1218 PM MDT Wed Mar 25 2026

An abnormally strong 590dm H5 high remains centered along the borderland and the bootheel of NM today, allowing for another round of record high temperatures 22F to 28F above normal. Abysmally dry conditions highlighted by humidity falling to near or below 10% will make hydration a top priority for anyone outdoors again. After a relatively calm night in which light and variable winds will allow for efficient radiational cooling over western and northern valley locations (see Angel Fire's observed low of 23F this morning), Thursday sees increased wind. An upper low currently off the SoCal coast will open and move west to east across northern AZ/NM. This feature will flatten the high which will drop temperatures several degrees over western and northern NM. However, the increased westerlies downsloping east of the central mountain chain toward TX will allow for highs across eastern NM to a few more degrees into the upper 90s, or even 100F at Roswell. Even drier air associated with this system will drop humidity below 10% across much of the area. The combination of well above normal warmth, windy conditions, and very low humidity will allow for critical fire weather conditions to develop over much of north-central, central, northeastern, and east-central NM (see Fire Weather Discussion).

LONG TERM

(Friday through Tuesday) Issued at 1218 PM MDT Wed Mar 25 2026

A sharp change in the weather pattern arrives Thursday night into Friday from a cold front backing south and west thru eastern NM. A sharp surface pressure gradient associated with the frontal boundary will yield strong northeasterly winds, reaching up to gusts of 45 to 55 mph in favored areas from Tucumcari to Portales. As the front surges westward thru the gaps of the central mountain chain, strong east canyon winds will impact Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and down to Carrizozo. Easterly gusts of 40 to 50+ immediately below areas like Tijeras Canyon are not out of the question and would produce hazardous crosswinds for high profile vehicles in these areas.

As the cold front makes its way to the AZ border Friday, a sharp drop in temperatures will push in its wake. Notably across eastern NM where record heat in the upper 90s is forecast Thursday, high temperatures fall back into the 50s Friday, a full 30F to 40F drop! The drop in temperatures will be less intense further west with forecast highs falling into the 70s to near 80F. A secondary surge of east canyon winds into Santa Fe and Albuquerque is likely Friday night before winds subside by Saturday morning.

After the cool down Friday, a secondary weather change will be from the influx of low level moisture across the state behind the cold front. While not a substantial surge, it will be enough to yield isolated to scattered virga showers favoring western NM along the Continental Divide. The crop of virga showers and potential for dry thunderstorms increases over western, central, and northern NM Sunday as a bit more low-level moisture works its way northward from AZ alongside greater mid-to-upper level forcing. The main threat from this weekend activity will be from dry lightning strikes with little to no warning from preceding rainfall and strong and erratic gusts. Forcing for the generation of showers and thunderstorms over western and central NM increases into early next week as a large scale synoptic troughing pattern moves into the western CONUS.

AVIATION

(18Z TAFS) Issued at 1111 AM MDT Wed Mar 25 2026

VFR prevails as generally light winds continue thru this afternoon. There will be a period of LLWS over east-central and southeastern terminals from KROW to KCVN and KTCC this evening to just past 06Z. Confidence was not high enough just yet to include at KROW.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 1218 PM MDT Wed Mar 25 2026

Record heat continues today alongside very low humidity, but light winds. Westerly winds increase Thursday afternoon alongside the continuation of record heat and even lower humidity falling below 10 percent. The Fire Weather Watch has been upgraded to a Red Flag Warning and expanded to include the Upper Rio Grande Valley. While fuels remain near record levels in terms of receptiveness to fire starts area wide, areas of north-central, northeastern, east- central, and central NM will remain most susceptible to rapid fire spread Thursday afternoon.

A strong cold front arrives Thursday night bringing an incredibly sharp drop in temperatures by 30F to 40F thru eastern NM alongside northeasterly to easterly winds. This front surges thru the gaps of the central mountain chain bringing strong east canyon winds to Santa Fe, Albuquerque and down to Carrizozo which looks to last most of the day Friday if not into Friday evening. A strong influx of colder and higher humidity will abate the threat of critical fire conditions Friday and into the weekend. However, the fire threat does evolve into a dry lightning threat from isolated to scattered virga showers and dry thunderstorms mainly over areas along the Continental Divide Saturday and more of western, central and northern NM Sunday into early next week.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 48 81 43 81 / 0 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 37 78 33 77 / 0 0 0 5 Cuba............................ 44 77 41 69 / 0 0 0 0 Gallup.......................... 36 78 33 78 / 0 0 0 0 El Morro........................ 43 75 41 70 / 0 0 0 0 Grants.......................... 40 80 36 71 / 0 0 0 0 Quemado......................... 42 78 39 75 / 0 0 0 0 Magdalena....................... 51 82 46 66 / 0 0 0 0 Datil........................... 47 77 43 66 / 0 0 0 0 Reserve......................... 37 86 37 83 / 0 0 0 0 Glenwood........................ 42 90 42 88 / 0 0 0 0 Chama........................... 40 72 36 71 / 0 0 0 10 Los Alamos...................... 54 77 47 67 / 0 0 0 0 Pecos........................... 48 79 40 61 / 0 0 0 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 48 75 39 66 / 0 0 0 10 Red River....................... 45 66 33 52 / 0 0 5 20 Angel Fire...................... 34 73 24 55 / 5 0 0 10 Taos............................ 39 80 36 69 / 0 0 0 5 Mora............................ 48 79 36 56 / 0 0 0 0 Espanola........................ 45 85 41 76 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Fe........................ 52 80 46 67 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 48 82 43 69 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 57 85 51 69 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 53 87 49 71 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 51 90 46 74 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 53 88 49 72 / 0 0 0 0 Belen........................... 47 90 42 72 / 0 0 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 54 88 49 73 / 0 0 0 0 Bosque Farms.................... 46 90 41 73 / 0 0 0 0 Corrales........................ 53 89 49 74 / 0 0 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 48 90 44 72 / 0 0 0 0 Placitas........................ 57 83 50 67 / 0 0 0 0 Rio Rancho...................... 53 88 49 73 / 0 0 0 0 Socorro......................... 53 93 49 74 / 0 0 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 53 80 46 63 / 0 0 0 0 Tijeras......................... 53 81 47 63 / 0 0 0 0 Edgewood........................ 49 82 43 61 / 0 0 0 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 43 83 38 61 / 0 0 0 0 Clines Corners.................. 49 80 40 53 / 0 0 0 0 Mountainair..................... 51 82 42 61 / 0 0 0 0 Gran Quivira.................... 51 82 44 60 / 0 0 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 54 86 48 66 / 0 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 56 81 43 55 / 0 0 0 5 Capulin......................... 48 83 31 47 / 0 0 0 5 Raton........................... 43 85 34 53 / 0 0 0 5 Springer........................ 42 87 38 55 / 0 0 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 48 83 38 55 / 0 0 0 0 Clayton......................... 56 94 37 52 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 49 90 38 53 / 0 0 0 0 Conchas......................... 49 96 44 60 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 50 90 44 56 / 0 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 54 99 43 59 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 55 99 43 59 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 53 99 44 60 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 49 97 43 60 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 53 100 51 63 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 54 94 45 59 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 52 92 41 58 / 0 0 0 0

ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning from 11 AM to 8 PM MDT Thursday for NMZ104- 121>126.