textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 522 PM MDT Thu Apr 23 2026

- Critical fire weather conditions are forecast each day through Monday, where any fire that starts could spread rapidly, especially in eastern New Mexico. The risk for rapid fire spread is highest on Sunday.

- Strong southwest and west winds will produce difficult crosswinds for high profile vehicles on north-south roads today through at least Monday. The strongest winds will occur Sunday, where winds may gust as high as 60 mph.

- On Sunday, showers and thunderstorms from the northern mountains westward, and over west central areas, will be capable of producing erratic wind gusts with hazardous crosswinds and blowing dust, as well as cloud-to-ground lightning.

SHORT TERM

(This evening through Friday night) Issued at 225 PM MDT Thu Apr 23 2026

A breezy afternoon continues across New Mexico today. Strong winds have been the story this morning, with Clines Corners peaking at 60kts (69mph). This is in response to a 700mb speed max (~50-60kts) traversing over the central mountain chain and a lack of radiational cooling allowing those 700mb winds to transfer down to the surface. This speed max is moving out into eastern New Mexico but is weakening as it does so. Thus, wind speeds are likely to not be as high this afternoon across the eastern half of the state. Even so, gusts up to 45mph are likely, and should begin decreasing by 8pm. Temperatures today should remain with 5 degrees above and below normal for much of the area, with 60s and 70s in western and central NM, warming up into the 80s across eastern NM.

Lighter winds tonight allows for better radiational cooling for several locations. A few areas in northern and western NM should see lows tonight dip below freezing, though we are still before the last average freeze date for a majority of those locations, so no Freeze Warnings will be necessary. Friday looks to be another warm, breezy day across the area, however the 700mb winds are likely to be lighter overall, so not expecting to need any Wind Advisories for tomorrow. Peak wind gusts look to be in the 35-40mph range for Friday. Temperatures warm a few degrees in turn with the slightly lighter winds and higher pressure heights.

LONG TERM

(Saturday through Wednesday) Issued at 225 PM MDT Thu Apr 23 2026

Saturday begins a multi-day stretch of windy and dry conditions across the state. As a longwave trough spins across southern Canada, two noted speed maxes are evident in the upper levels: one over CO/WY/NE and one entering western CONUS via CA/AZ. This southern speed max is the one to focus on as it begins to move towards NM on Saturday. 700mb winds don't appear to be extremely impressive, but ~30kts, a well-mixed surface layer, and a surface trough in eastern NM shows all the signs for a breezy to locally windy day across the state, especially eastern NM. This sets the tone for a potentially more impactful day on Sunday.

The speed max is forecast to sharpen into a shortwave trough as it rounds its main parent low up in Canada. Because of this, its near axis and downstream winds become stronger at all levels. 700mb winds are forecast to balloon up into the 50-60kt range. Additionally, the stronger winds support the development of a stronger lee trough along the Front Range. There is slight model disagreement in the exact timing of the strongest winds passing, which delay/offset model location of the surface low and thus limits confidence on our side. Nonetheless, one should form to help strengthen the surface winds. Currently looking at a decent chance (30-40%) to exceed 60mph wind gusts across eastern NM, especially in wind prone areas like Clines Corners and the Northeast Highlands (Las Vegas area). It's becoming more likely that a High Wind Watch will be issued in the next day or so. With these winds being stronger than what we have seen over the past few weeks, blowing dust is of concern especially for areas that have not seen precipitation for awhile. We are too far out for any specifics on a dust front, but it is something to keep in mind.

While the winds impact much of eastern, central, and southern NM, this shortwave is slated to bring precipitation to much of northern and northwest NM Saturday night through Sunday. Alongside orographic lifting due to the west/southwest flow, the northern mountains are favorably placed in the left exit region of the speed max, thus aiding development of precipitation. These showers and storms may start off as virga Saturday afternoon/evening as top down moistening of the atmosphere occurs, but should transition into wetting precipitation overnight. Precipitation remains predominantly rain below 8,500-9,000ft, with snow likely above that. As the precipitation goes through Sunday, areas near the northern mountains should see around 0.1-0.2" of liquid precipitation, with locally higher amounts. Any appreciable snowfall amounts are likely to remain isolated to the higher terrain of the Tusas and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which could see a few inches at most.

The upcoming week looks to remain unsettled and active. Stiff zonal flow returns to begin the week, keeping Monday breezy and rather dry. Daily breezy conditions look to remain on tap through the middle of the week. An approaching shortwave sometime during the mid to latter part of next week appears to be the next best chance at precipitation, along with a surging backdoor cold front.

AVIATION

(00Z TAFS) Issued at 522 PM MDT Thu Apr 23 2026

Gusty winds will be the primary aviation hazard with widespread gusts of 25 to 40 kt through sunset. Strongest gusts will occur over mountains and nearby highlands. Wind speeds will decrease after sunset, but will start to turn gusty again late Friday morning. Speeds on Friday will not be nearly as strong with gusts tending to stay in the 20 to 25 kt range.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 225 PM MDT Thu Apr 23 2026

A multi-day stretch of elevated to critical fire weather remains on tap through at least Monday. Strong winds (gusts up to 45-55mph) continue throughout the afternoon today along with humidity values in the single digits. Friday is likely to be the lowest concern day as winds taper off a touch, though locally critical fire weather is still possible, if not likely, especially considering humidity remains in the single digits across much of eastern NM. Coverage of critical conditions should remain isolated enough to inhibit the need of a Red Flag Warning. Winds trend back up Saturday with an approaching system and thus the critical conditions become more widespread across eastern NM. While humidity trends up a few percentage points, there is high confidence of it remaining below 15%, and thus a Fire Weather Watch was issued. Sunday appears to be the most impactful day of the next several days as winds are forecast to strengthen up to 30-40mph, with a chance for gusts to exceed 60mph. Humidity does increase further towards that 15% mark, though winds are likely to be strong enough to counteract the increasing humidity. Current RFTI numbers are comfortably around 5-6 through much of eastern NM Sunday. Another Fire Weather Watch will almost certainly be needed. Breezy to windy conditions with critical fire weather conditions are forecast to continue into next week.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 34 70 44 71 / 0 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 22 67 34 66 / 0 0 0 10 Cuba............................ 30 67 39 65 / 0 0 0 10 Gallup.......................... 27 68 34 65 / 0 0 0 5 El Morro........................ 32 65 37 63 / 0 0 0 5 Grants.......................... 29 70 35 68 / 0 0 0 5 Quemado......................... 34 69 39 67 / 0 0 0 0 Magdalena....................... 41 72 44 71 / 0 0 0 0 Datil........................... 36 68 39 66 / 0 0 0 0 Reserve......................... 31 75 36 73 / 0 0 0 0 Glenwood........................ 36 78 39 78 / 0 0 0 0 Chama........................... 24 60 32 61 / 0 0 0 10 Los Alamos...................... 38 66 45 66 / 0 0 0 5 Pecos........................... 34 67 39 67 / 0 0 0 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 31 63 37 64 / 0 0 0 0 Red River....................... 26 54 33 55 / 0 0 0 0 Angel Fire...................... 19 60 26 61 / 0 0 0 0 Taos............................ 23 68 32 68 / 0 0 0 0 Mora............................ 31 67 37 67 / 0 0 0 0 Espanola........................ 33 73 42 74 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Fe........................ 38 67 44 67 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 34 70 42 70 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 44 75 52 74 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 41 76 49 76 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 39 79 48 79 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 41 77 51 76 / 0 0 0 0 Belen........................... 36 79 43 79 / 0 0 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 39 77 50 76 / 0 0 0 0 Bosque Farms.................... 35 78 45 79 / 0 0 0 0 Corrales........................ 40 78 50 77 / 0 0 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 37 78 45 78 / 0 0 0 0 Placitas........................ 41 72 50 71 / 0 0 0 0 Rio Rancho...................... 41 77 50 76 / 0 0 0 0 Socorro......................... 44 83 47 82 / 0 0 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 39 69 46 69 / 0 0 0 0 Tijeras......................... 39 70 46 71 / 0 0 0 0 Edgewood........................ 34 71 42 71 / 0 0 0 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 28 73 38 74 / 0 0 0 0 Clines Corners.................. 35 68 42 69 / 0 0 0 0 Mountainair..................... 36 72 42 73 / 0 0 0 0 Gran Quivira.................... 39 71 44 72 / 0 0 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 45 76 50 75 / 0 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 42 68 48 69 / 0 0 0 0 Capulin......................... 31 66 37 69 / 0 0 0 0 Raton........................... 29 70 34 73 / 0 0 0 0 Springer........................ 29 73 35 75 / 0 0 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 33 69 40 71 / 0 0 0 0 Clayton......................... 39 73 46 78 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 35 73 41 76 / 0 0 0 0 Conchas......................... 39 81 43 83 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 39 76 45 78 / 0 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 41 83 47 86 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 46 82 50 86 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 44 83 50 87 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 41 82 47 85 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 49 86 52 89 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 44 80 49 81 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 43 78 48 79 / 0 0 0 0

ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning until 8 PM MDT this evening for NMZ104-106-109- 121>126.

Fire Weather Watch from Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening for NMZ104-123-125-126.

Wind Advisory until 8 PM MDT this evening for NMZ215-221-229-233.

High Wind Warning until 6 PM MDT this evening for NMZ223.