textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 526 AM MDT Sat Apr 25 2026

- Critical fire weather conditions and a risk of rapid fire spread will continue to plague eastern areas today through Tuesday, and portions of central and western New Mexico as well on Sunday.

- Strong southwest and west winds will produce hazardous crosswinds for high profile vehicles, especially on Sunday when gusts will commonly reach 45 to 55 mph, except around 60 mph along and just east of the central mountain chain. - Saturday night and 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, blowing dust, and cloud-to-ground lightning.

SHORT TERM

(Today through Sunday night) Issued at 201 AM MDT Sat Apr 25 2026

The longwave trough will deepen over the western US today, strengthening winds over the forecast area some from yesterday and increasing fire weather concerns. A Red Flag Warning remains in effect east of the central mountain chain from noon to 8 PM today.

A shortwave trough will then sweep northeastward across the Four Corners and CO tonight and Sunday steering a strong jet streak over the state with 700-500 mb wind speeds varying between 40-70 KT. There will also be a potent lee trough south of a ~992 mb surface low in southeast CO. With high temperatures a few to around 10 degrees above 1991-2020 averages Sunday, central and eastern areas should mix between 13,000-16000 feet, with thermals tapping into that strong momentum aloft. Southwest surface winds on Sunday should commonly peak between 45-55 mph with peak gusts around 60 mph on mountain peaks and along the east slopes of the central mountain chain. There is a roughly 20 percent chance that some of these stronger winds will spread over the east central plains including the I-40 corridor Sunday afternoon. The surface low in southeast CO is now forecast to eject eastward across KS Sunday night, while the jet core lingers over NM enabling windy conditions to continue over mountain peaks and across the eastern plains. Wind gusts on peaks of the central mountain chain will probably continue to reach around 50 mph Sunday night, and up to 45 mph on the eastern plains.

The shortwave trough will also spread showers, thunderstorms, and very high terrain snow showers mainly from the northern mountains westward Saturday night and Sunday. Most locations will only receive a few hundredths of an inch of rainfall, except a up to about 0.25" near the CO border. A dusting to around an inch of snow is forecast above 9500' in the northern mountains, except around 2" in the Tusas Mountains above Chama. Enough instability exists for gusty virga showers that could produce dry lightning on the leading edge of the precipitation shield, or in an arc from Gallup, to Grants, to Albuquerque, to Moriarty, to Las Vegas, and to Raton; and, also across the far northeast plains near the CO border.

The strong winds, very low humidity, and spotty dry storms will create critical and extremely critical fire weather conditions along and south of I-40, and also along and east of I-25, on Sunday from 11 AM to 8 PM, or so. Again, the slight chance of dry lightning will mostly be relegated to the I-40 corridor of central and western NM, and along the I-25 corridor of central and northeast NM.

After high temperatures today varying from near to around 9 degrees above 30-year averages, readings will fall as much as 8 degrees below the averages over western areas on Sunday as eastern readings climb a degree or two.

LONG TERM

(Monday through Friday) Issued at 201 AM MDT Sat Apr 25 2026

Wind and fire weather concerns will return Monday, and to a greater extent Tuesday, as another shortwave trough digs over the western US, then passes just north of New Mexico. The flow aloft will remain brisk both days, and there will be a surface trough in the lee of the central mountain chain both days. West and southwest wind gusts should generally peak in the 30-40 mph range over western areas Monday with gusts up to 45 mph along and east of the central mountain chain. At this time west and northwest winds look to weaken a little over western areas on Tuesday, while strengthening some over eastern areas. High temperatures are forecast to fall within a few degrees either side of average on Monday, except as much as 7 degrees below average northwest. Readings should then rebound a few to 8 degrees on Tuesday.

The middle to latter half of the week will feature cooler weather and a chance for widespread and wetting rain showers, thunderstorms, and very high terrain snow as a potentially strong low pressure system plows eastward across NM. The latest model runs have generally delayed the onset of widespread precip to Wednesday night or Thursday, and they keep it going through Friday, before tapering it off Friday night. Some ensemble members are suggesting a backdoor cold front feeding into the system could pack strong northeast winds mainly over eastern areas Thursday night and Friday.

AVIATION

(12Z TAFS) Issued at 526 AM MDT Sat Apr 25 2026

Southwest winds will become breezy along and just east of the central mountain chain by mid morning today, then over more of the forecast area around midday. Gusts should generally peak from 25 to 35 KT this afternoon, except up to 40 KT along and just east of the central mountain chain, including KLVS and KSRR. Tonight, scattered to isolated rain showers and mountain snow showers will develop from the Tusas and Jemez Mountains westward. This activity is forecast to spread over the upper Rio Grande Valley and Sangre de Cristo Mountains as well around sunrise. There will be periods of mountain obscuration. Also, after midnight a backdoor cold front will slide into the northeast plains producing IFR conditions in low clouds and fog at Clayton.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 201 AM MDT Sat Apr 25 2026

With this forecast package we are expanding the Fire Weather Watch for Sunday westward to the West Central Mountains, Basin, and Range, where RFTIs around 5-6 are forecast with ERCs around the 75th percentile. Further, there will be a slight chance for dry lightning on Sunday in the West Central Mountains along and north of I-40. Strong winds look to persist through Monday, then return on Tuesday, with continued critical fire weather conditions both days along and east of the central mountain chain. Of the two days, Tuesday looks to be the most critical due to slightly stronger and more widespread strong winds. Winds should weaken on Wednesday behind Pacific and backdoor cold fronts Tuesday night, and because of weak ridging over the forecast area being induced by an approaching upper level low pressure system from the west. Nonetheless, locally critical fire weather conditions are forecast to return on Wednesday in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Northeast Highlands.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 71 45 64 40 / 5 40 60 10 Dulce........................... 66 37 58 32 / 5 60 90 30 Cuba............................ 66 39 64 33 / 5 30 40 10 Gallup.......................... 66 36 62 30 / 10 10 20 0 El Morro........................ 63 37 60 30 / 5 10 10 0 Grants.......................... 69 36 66 31 / 5 10 10 0 Quemado......................... 66 40 64 31 / 5 5 0 0 Magdalena....................... 70 45 70 37 / 5 5 0 0 Datil........................... 66 40 64 33 / 5 5 0 0 Reserve......................... 71 38 68 31 / 5 5 0 0 Glenwood........................ 76 41 73 35 / 5 5 5 0 Chama........................... 60 34 51 29 / 5 60 90 40 Los Alamos...................... 67 44 63 38 / 5 30 50 10 Pecos........................... 68 39 67 34 / 0 20 30 5 Cerro/Questa.................... 63 39 58 33 / 0 20 60 20 Red River....................... 57 33 53 28 / 0 20 70 20 Angel Fire...................... 60 32 57 29 / 0 20 50 20 Taos............................ 67 37 62 33 / 0 20 60 20 Mora............................ 67 38 64 34 / 0 20 30 5 Espanola........................ 74 41 71 37 / 0 20 50 10 Santa Fe........................ 69 42 67 38 / 0 20 40 5 Santa Fe Airport................ 73 41 71 37 / 0 20 20 5 Albuquerque Foothills........... 74 49 73 43 / 5 10 10 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 76 50 75 44 / 5 10 5 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 78 42 77 38 / 5 10 5 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 76 48 75 42 / 5 10 5 0 Belen........................... 79 44 79 42 / 5 5 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 76 45 75 41 / 5 10 10 0 Bosque Farms.................... 78 42 77 39 / 5 5 5 0 Corrales........................ 76 46 75 42 / 5 10 10 0 Los Lunas....................... 78 43 77 41 / 5 5 5 0 Placitas........................ 73 47 71 42 / 5 10 20 0 Rio Rancho...................... 75 48 74 42 / 5 10 10 0 Socorro......................... 81 49 81 44 / 5 5 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 68 45 68 37 / 5 10 10 0 Tijeras......................... 70 45 70 39 / 5 10 10 0 Edgewood........................ 70 41 70 38 / 0 10 10 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 73 34 73 35 / 0 10 10 0 Clines Corners.................. 68 41 68 35 / 0 10 10 0 Mountainair..................... 71 43 71 38 / 0 5 5 0 Gran Quivira.................... 71 44 71 39 / 0 5 5 0 Carrizozo....................... 74 53 75 45 / 0 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 69 46 70 43 / 0 0 0 0 Capulin......................... 68 38 67 35 / 0 20 10 5 Raton........................... 73 38 71 36 / 0 10 20 5 Springer........................ 75 40 73 38 / 0 5 10 5 Las Vegas....................... 70 41 68 37 / 0 10 10 0 Clayton......................... 77 44 78 43 / 0 20 10 0 Roy............................. 75 44 73 42 / 0 5 10 0 Conchas......................... 82 47 83 48 / 0 5 5 0 Santa Rosa...................... 79 45 79 46 / 0 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 85 49 86 49 / 0 0 5 0 Clovis.......................... 83 50 85 48 / 0 0 5 0 Portales........................ 85 49 87 50 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 84 47 84 48 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 88 54 90 52 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 80 52 80 48 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 77 50 77 46 / 0 0 0 0

ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning from noon today to 8 PM MDT this evening for NMZ104-123-125-126.

Fire Weather Watch from Sunday afternoon through Sunday evening for NMZ104>106-109-123>126.

High Wind Watch from Sunday morning through Sunday evening for NMZ215-221>224-226>229-233-239-240.