textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 534 PM MDT Sat Apr 18 2026

- A late Spring freeze is likely Sunday morning across portions of the East Central Plains. Take precautions to protect exposed plumbing and early blooming plants.

- Critical fire weather conditions will increase the threat of rapid fire spread in northeastern New Mexico Sunday afternoon. There is moderate confidence in more widespread critical fire weather conditions on Wednesday and Thursday.

- Evaporating showers and dry thunderstorms Monday will result in gusty and erratic wind gusts up to 50 mph, patchy blowing dust, and potential fire starts from dry lightning.

SHORT TERM

(This evening through Sunday night) Issued at 142 PM MDT Sat Apr 18 2026

Sunny skies prevail around the Land of Enchantment today. Temperatures are generally near to slightly below seasonal normals, with the biggest departure from climatology in the eastern plains where the sfc high will be centered. The sfc pressure gradient will remain tight enough across central NM tonight to generate a brisk southeasterly gap wind, but gusts should generally remain below 35 mph. NBM probabilistic guidance shows that there is a 30-70% chance of freezing temperatures in portions of the East Central Plains overnight, with the highest confidence in Guadalupe County. As a result, a Freeze Warning was issued for much of the East Central Plains, including Santa Rosa, Clovis, and Portales. Freezing temperatures are likely in may other areas as well (Moriarty, Las Vegas, and Taos), but these areas will be warmer than last night and are still weeks away from their average last freeze date. Winds will turn around to the south Sunday afternoon in response to an amplifying ridge over the Intermountain West. Winds will be strongest in the northeast corner of the state where a few gusts upwards of 45 mph may occur.

LONG TERM

(Monday through Friday) Issued at 142 PM MDT Sat Apr 18 2026

Ridging will continue to amplify over the Intermountain West on Monday, allowing some mid-level moisture to sneak north and westward into New Mexico. PWATs of 150-250% of normal will be enough to create some high-based showers and storms that will focus over western NM. There will likely be a mix of wet storms, dry storms, and gusty virga showers, with the dry storm threat greatest over northern NM where 700mb dewpoint depressions will be upwards of 20C. Wetting rainfall will be favored across the Southwest Mountains, but even here amounts greater than 0.1" will be spotty at best. Per usual, gusty outflow winds will be the main threat with any convection Monday afternoon/evening. A few gusty showers could develop once again on Tuesday afternoon in the high terrain of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, but westerly flow will begin to take over and dry out the region from west to east.

A longwave trough will dive into The Great Basin on Wednesday, translating to an uptick in southwest winds across New Mexico. It will likely be a gusty day with widespread fire danger and temps tick upwards in eastern NM in response to downsloping winds. Winds turn around to the west on Thursday as a Pacific front drops temperatures slightly. The progressive pattern will likely continue over the Intermountain West Friday into the weekend, with at least breezy conditions each day. There are even low chances of rain over far northern NM each day, with a low chance that these precip. chances extend further south early next week in response to an approaching Pacific trough.

AVIATION

(00Z TAFS) Issued at 534 PM MDT Sat Apr 18 2026

A gusty easterly and southeasterly gap wind is forecast below canyons opening into the central valley tonight with the strongest winds during the evening and around midnight. Otherwise, VFR conditions are forecast for the next 24 hours. High clouds will increase in coverage from the southwest on Sunday.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 142 PM MDT Sat Apr 18 2026

Ridging will amplify over the Intermountain West on Sunday, turning winds around to the south and creating some localized windy conditions in the northeast corner of the state. As a result, several hours of critical fire weather conditions will likely occur tomorrow, prompting the issuance of a Red Flag Warning for the Northeast Plains and Highlands. Up to 9 hours of critical conditions could occur in Union County where gusty winds of 20 to 30 mph will be quite persistent through the day. Winds weaken on Monday as mid- level moisture is pushed in from the south. This will provide the fuel for some gusty showers and storms that will generally favor the high terrain of western NM. A few dry storms cannot be ruled out, but 700mb dewpoint depressions less than 10C and Min RH values between 25 and 35%, suggest that a few storms storms will have the potential to produce wetting rainfall. Gusty showers and storms will trek northward through the afternoon then decay during the evening hours. Lingering moisture could lead to the development of a virga shower or two in northern NM on Tuesday afternoon, but drier air from the west will limit both coverage and intensity.

Southwest to west winds will trend stronger mid-week in response to an approaching upper-level trough over The Great Basin. This will likely lead to the development of widespread critical fire weather conditions Wednesday, with the highest chances in the norhwest and northeastern portions of the state. Winds weaken somewhat on Thursday behind a Pacific front, but it will still be dry and windy enough for critical fire weather conditions across much of eastern and central NM. Fire danger will gradually decrease late week as winds continue to trend lower. Low precip. chances will favor the northern mountains next weekend, but wetting rain chances remain very low.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 33 74 45 76 / 0 0 0 5 Dulce........................... 27 70 28 73 / 0 0 0 10 Cuba............................ 30 67 37 69 / 0 0 5 20 Gallup.......................... 24 73 36 72 / 0 0 10 20 El Morro........................ 32 69 39 67 / 0 5 10 40 Grants.......................... 28 71 36 71 / 0 0 5 30 Quemado......................... 36 70 39 69 / 0 5 10 40 Magdalena....................... 37 66 43 68 / 0 0 10 30 Datil........................... 34 64 40 66 / 0 5 10 40 Reserve......................... 31 74 38 75 / 0 10 10 30 Glenwood........................ 36 77 40 80 / 0 10 10 20 Chama........................... 30 63 31 66 / 0 0 0 20 Los Alamos...................... 39 66 43 68 / 0 0 0 20 Pecos........................... 29 67 36 69 / 0 0 5 30 Cerro/Questa.................... 30 64 37 68 / 0 0 0 10 Red River....................... 24 56 31 59 / 0 0 0 20 Angel Fire...................... 16 61 23 63 / 0 0 0 20 Taos............................ 27 68 30 72 / 0 0 0 20 Mora............................ 26 67 34 68 / 0 0 0 20 Espanola........................ 35 73 38 76 / 0 0 0 20 Santa Fe........................ 35 67 43 69 / 0 0 0 20 Santa Fe Airport................ 33 70 40 72 / 0 0 0 20 Albuquerque Foothills........... 42 73 49 74 / 0 0 5 20 Albuquerque Heights............. 40 74 47 76 / 0 0 5 20 Albuquerque Valley.............. 40 77 46 78 / 0 0 5 20 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 39 74 49 76 / 0 0 5 20 Belen........................... 35 74 44 77 / 0 0 10 30 Bernalillo...................... 37 75 46 77 / 0 0 5 20 Bosque Farms.................... 36 76 44 78 / 0 0 5 20 Corrales........................ 37 76 47 77 / 0 0 5 20 Los Lunas....................... 35 75 44 77 / 0 0 5 20 Placitas........................ 40 71 47 72 / 0 0 5 20 Rio Rancho...................... 39 74 48 76 / 0 0 5 20 Socorro......................... 41 75 47 78 / 0 0 20 30 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 35 68 44 69 / 0 0 10 20 Tijeras......................... 36 69 44 70 / 0 0 10 20 Edgewood........................ 29 71 39 71 / 0 0 5 20 Moriarty/Estancia............... 23 72 34 72 / 0 0 5 20 Clines Corners.................. 30 66 38 66 / 0 0 5 30 Mountainair..................... 30 69 40 71 / 0 0 10 30 Gran Quivira.................... 32 68 41 70 / 0 0 20 30 Carrizozo....................... 39 69 43 73 / 0 0 30 30 Ruidoso......................... 33 62 41 67 / 0 0 30 30 Capulin......................... 30 64 33 69 / 0 0 0 5 Raton........................... 25 70 31 73 / 0 0 0 5 Springer........................ 28 71 31 75 / 0 0 0 10 Las Vegas....................... 28 66 36 68 / 0 0 0 20 Clayton......................... 34 69 42 75 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 31 66 37 71 / 0 0 0 10 Conchas......................... 31 73 41 78 / 0 0 0 20 Santa Rosa...................... 30 68 38 73 / 0 0 5 20 Tucumcari....................... 33 74 42 76 / 0 0 0 10 Clovis.......................... 31 72 43 71 / 0 0 10 30 Portales........................ 30 72 43 72 / 0 0 10 30 Fort Sumner..................... 32 70 40 74 / 0 0 5 20 Roswell......................... 39 71 45 73 / 0 0 30 30 Picacho......................... 35 67 41 72 / 0 0 20 30 Elk............................. 31 66 37 72 / 0 5 30 20

ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning from 11 AM to 8 PM MDT Sunday for NMZ104-123.

Freeze Warning from 3 AM to 8 AM MDT Sunday for NMZ233-235>237.