textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 1047 AM MST Tue Feb 17 2026

- Damaging west and southwest winds will continue along and east of the central mountain chain today with hazardous crosswinds and blowing dust as far west as the continental divide. Hazardous southwest wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph will return to much of northern and central New Mexico on Wednesday.

- Snow accumulation and blowing and snow will produce snowpacked and icy roads, as well as snow drifts, in portions of the mountains today, Wednesday, and Friday, and probably also at lower elevation of north central and western New Mexico on Friday.

- Critical fire weather conditions will increase the risk of rapid fire spread across northeast and east central areas today, then again on Wednesday as far west as the middle Rio Grande Valley.

SHORT TERM

(Today through Wednesday night) Issued at 132 AM MST Tue Feb 17 2026

Upper level troughs crossing the central and southern Rockies today and Wednesday will bring rain and snow showers mainly to locations along and west of the central mountain chain, and strong west and southwest winds to most of northern and central New Mexico.

The strongest wind speeds are forecast today as a strong speed maximum in the polar jet stream crosses with 700 mb speeds from 40-60 KT, except up to 80 KT across east central areas. Fortunately, the strongest winds aloft will shift east of New Mexico by the time of peak heating and mixing this afternoon, but locations along and east of the central mountain chain can still expect wind gusts from 50 to 70 mph with the strongest gusts along the east slopes of the central mountain chain. Gusts up to 50 mph will also impact the central valley, northwest mountains, west central highlands, and southwest mountains today. Meanwhile, 3-8 inches of snow are forecast in the Chuska, Tusas, and Sangre de Cristo Mountains today, where blowing and drifting snow will make travel dangerous. This will be a westerly upslope flow precip event, with drying downslope flow east of the central mountain chain. Critical fire weather conditions are forecast east of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and across the east central plains, from mid morning until early evening.

Periods of snow will continue tonight with only light accumulation, then snow will increase in coverage and intensity again over the northern mountains, Chuska Mountains, and west central mountains on Wednesday afternoon and evening. Additional snow accumulation of up to 4 inches are forecast in these areas on Wednesday, except for lighter amounts of only an inch or two in the west central mountains, and heavier amounts around a half foot in the Tusas Mountains. A gusty Pacific cold front will dive through western areas on Wednesday evening, lowering temperatures and bringing a roughly 50 percent chance of brief but impactful snow squalls west of the Rio Grande.

Wind speeds at 700 mb will generally vary from 40-60 KT on Wednesday, except up to 65 KT over the south central mountains. Gusts up to 50 mph will probably be common again Wednesday, except up to 45 mph on the far eastern plains and potentially around 60 mph from Ruidoso to Dunken. Humidities will be lower on Wednesday, so critical fire weather conditions are forecast in all locations east of the central mountain chain, as well as the middle Rio Grande Valley (especially Socorro County).

High temperatures will vary from near to as much as 12 degrees below 1991-2020 averages along and west of the central mountain chain today and Wednesday, and up to 12 degrees above average farther east.

LONG TERM

(Thursday through Monday) Issued at 132 AM MST Tue Feb 17 2026

Another disturbance looks to cross the southern Rockies on Thursday, then a stronger trough Thursday night and Friday with additional rain and snow accumulation. A Pacific cold front with this system will cross Thursday night and Friday morning, dropping the snow level to valley bottoms in most locations west of the Rio Grande for much of the day on Friday, and probably in the Rio Grande Valley as well by sunset. This system looks vigorous enough to produce a few to several inches of snow in the mountains, with a few inches in the upper Rio Grande Valley and at lower elevations west of the continental divide. Further, breezy to windy conditions are again forecast Thursday and Friday, but gusts will probably peak in the 35-45 mph range in most places, except locally stronger along and just east of the central mountain chain.

Winds will weaken and the weather will dry out Saturday through Monday as a ridge of high pressure crosses from the west. After high temperatures bottom out near to around 12 degrees below 30-year averages on Saturday, readings will rebound reaching near to as much as 13 degrees above average on Monday.

AVIATION

(18Z TAFS) Issued at 1047 AM MST Tue Feb 17 2026

Unsettled weather conditions will persist across northern and central New Mexico with aviation hazards being focused on strong to damaging winds, blowing dust, mountain snow in northern areas of the state, and also obscurations of peaks. Wind gusts of 35 to 50 kt will be common across much of northern and central New Mexico through sunset with the strongest gusts found in eastern areas of the state. Areas of blowing dust will limit visibility, especially over the east central plains where it may reduce as low as 1 to 3 miles. Overall, rain and snow will decrease in coverage through the afternoon and early evening with the northern mountains seeing the most persistent snow with IFR (ceilings below 1,000 ft) or LIFR conditions (ceilings below 500 ft). Winds will reduce around sunset, but will increase again from the southwest late Wednesday morning into the afternoon hours.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 132 AM MST Tue Feb 17 2026

ERC percentiles from 50th to 95th across northeast and east central areas make the very strong winds forecast today concerning, despite minimum humidities from 14 to 25 percent, especially given a couple of recent wild fires. Humidities will fall around 5 to 12 percent across southern and eastern parts of the fire weather forecast area on Wednesday, increasing the coverage of critical fire weather conditions. A broader area of wind gusts up to 50 mph is also expected on Wednesday. With this forecast package have enough confidence in critical conditions to upgrade to a Red Flag Warning over eastern areas on Wednesday. Will keep the Fire Weather Watch in effect for the Middle Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday given some uncertainty about how low humidities will drop. At this time, the greatest confidence for sub-15 percent humidities is in the lower Rio Grande Valley Wednesday, including Socorro. At least locally critical fire weather conditions look to return to northeast and east central areas on Thursday. After spring-like vent rates for the remainder of the work week, ventilation Saturday and Sunday with poor ventilation mainly from the central mountain chain westward.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 49 32 46 21 / 80 20 80 40 Dulce........................... 45 24 42 11 / 90 70 90 70 Cuba............................ 45 23 45 18 / 80 10 50 70 Gallup.......................... 44 24 43 16 / 90 10 70 60 El Morro........................ 42 22 43 21 / 80 0 40 60 Grants.......................... 47 20 48 19 / 80 0 30 50 Quemado......................... 45 24 47 23 / 80 0 20 30 Magdalena....................... 51 29 52 30 / 30 0 0 10 Datil........................... 45 24 46 25 / 60 0 5 20 Reserve......................... 50 24 50 26 / 80 5 30 50 Glenwood........................ 54 26 55 30 / 80 0 20 50 Chama........................... 39 21 34 8 / 90 70 90 70 Los Alamos...................... 45 27 45 22 / 70 5 40 70 Pecos........................... 47 21 47 20 / 70 5 20 50 Cerro/Questa.................... 42 25 38 15 / 80 30 60 70 Red River....................... 33 22 32 13 / 80 30 70 70 Angel Fire...................... 41 20 36 9 / 70 30 50 70 Taos............................ 46 23 43 17 / 80 30 60 70 Mora............................ 47 22 46 17 / 60 5 30 50 Espanola........................ 53 24 52 22 / 70 10 40 60 Santa Fe........................ 47 25 49 24 / 70 5 30 60 Santa Fe Airport................ 50 24 53 22 / 60 5 20 50 Albuquerque Foothills........... 53 33 55 31 / 50 0 10 30 Albuquerque Heights............. 56 32 57 30 / 50 0 10 20 Albuquerque Valley.............. 58 25 59 24 / 50 0 5 20 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 56 29 57 29 / 50 0 10 30 Belen........................... 59 26 61 30 / 30 0 0 20 Bernalillo...................... 57 29 57 27 / 60 0 10 30 Bosque Farms.................... 58 24 60 26 / 40 0 5 20 Corrales........................ 58 28 58 27 / 60 0 10 30 Los Lunas....................... 58 25 59 28 / 40 0 5 20 Placitas........................ 51 31 54 29 / 60 0 10 40 Rio Rancho...................... 56 29 57 29 / 60 0 10 30 Socorro......................... 63 29 63 33 / 20 0 0 5 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 48 28 50 26 / 60 0 10 40 Tijeras......................... 49 29 51 28 / 60 0 10 40 Edgewood........................ 51 26 52 27 / 50 0 5 20 Moriarty/Estancia............... 53 20 54 24 / 40 0 0 20 Clines Corners.................. 49 24 49 23 / 30 0 0 20 Mountainair..................... 53 26 54 27 / 40 0 0 10 Gran Quivira.................... 54 25 55 27 / 30 0 0 10 Carrizozo....................... 56 31 58 33 / 30 0 0 5 Ruidoso......................... 50 30 51 31 / 20 0 0 5 Capulin......................... 54 24 51 20 / 0 0 0 0 Raton........................... 55 23 52 21 / 10 0 0 10 Springer........................ 57 24 55 22 / 10 0 0 10 Las Vegas....................... 51 23 51 22 / 30 0 5 20 Clayton......................... 64 31 61 28 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 59 26 56 25 / 0 0 0 5 Conchas......................... 67 30 66 31 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 62 29 62 31 / 5 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 70 32 67 32 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 69 32 67 34 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 71 30 69 34 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 68 29 66 32 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 73 33 70 36 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 64 33 63 35 / 5 0 0 0 Elk............................. 61 31 61 34 / 10 0 0 0

ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

High Wind Warning until 8 PM MST this evening for NMZ212-215- 221>223-226>240.

Red Flag Warning until 7 PM MST this evening for NMZ104-123-126.

Red Flag Warning from 10 AM to 7 PM MST Wednesday for NMZ104-123- 125-126.

Wind Advisory until 8 PM MST this evening for NMZ207-208-211- 216>220-224-225.

Fire Weather Watch from Wednesday morning through Wednesday evening for NMZ106.

Winter Storm Warning until 8 PM MST this evening for NMZ210-213- 214.

Winter Weather Advisory until 8 PM MST this evening for NMZ202.