textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 422 PM MST Thu Feb 26 2026

- Breezy to windy conditions this afternoon will create difficult crosswinds.

- Record high temperatures are forecast in many locations this weekend as lower elevation temperatures climb into the 70s and mid 80s.

- Chances for rain and mountain snow begin to increase next week.

SHORT TERM

(This evening through Friday night) Issued at 110 PM MST Thu Feb 26 2026

Rather pleasant weather continues across New Mexico this afternoon. A high pressure remains situated over the Baja Peninsula, allowing northwest flow to dominate the state once again. Thus, breezy northwest winds will continue through this afternoon, with peak gusts up to 30-35mph. Wind prone areas such as Central Highlands (including Clines Corners) may see gusts near 45mph. Otherwise, near record to record high temperatures remain in store statewide, with mid 70s to low 80s likely in lower elevation areas. Not much changes moving into Friday in terms of the weather conditions. Breezy northwest winds likely remain in the same places as today, though are favored to not be as strong. This is due to the core of 700mb winds moving over the state during the early morning hours, missing the alignment with peak afternoon heating. Another round of record high temperatures are favored to be broken Friday, as temps look to remain in the mid 70s to low 80s across most lower elevation areas.

LONG TERM

(Saturday through Wednesday) Issued at 110 PM MST Thu Feb 26 2026

The upcoming weekend looks to be dry and warm with the overall pleasant weather continuing. The high pressure mentioned in the short term remains situated to the south of New Mexico, continuing a pattern of west to northwest flow and thus west to northwest surface winds. Breezy conditions are likely each day, and temperatures are likely to be the hottest of the season so far. For example, the ABQ Sunport has about a 30% chance to hit 80F on Sunday, which would beat the earliest official 80F day in ABQ by over a week. Several other record high temperatures are likely to be threatened and/or broken.

The high pressure begins to break down to begin next week, allowing for a pattern change. Firstly, a backdoor front enters NM in the Monday timeframe, though the true time of this front is still up for debate, as the GFS and AI-GFS bring it in early Monday morning while the Euro and Canadian bring it in later Monday, as well as being weaker. Nonetheless, "cooler" temperatures are favored for Monday across eastern NM (high 60s to low 70s). Moving into the middle part of the week, a shortwave trough is slated to enter NM in the Tuesday timeframe. Models have converged on this being a faster, more open shortwave as compared to a deeper, closed low. This path results in slightly less precipitation overall for the state, however fairly good PoPs remain mostly in the northern mountains at around 40-50%. Any sort of appreciable snowfall in the mountains will most likely sit at and above 8,500-9,000ft. Cannot rule out a few rumbles of thunder in the mountains as well with low but noticable SBCAPE values being depicted. A second potential impact of this system may be stronger southwest winds as the shortwave moves through. Current forecast mixing heights sit above 10,000ft, which are near the 75th percentile for early March. This would allow for any stronger winds to mix down. However, as noted before with the model differences, that remains true as to whether or not a corridor of stronger 700mb winds coincides with peak afternoon heating. This more active pattern looks to continue into the latter half of next week, with additional precipitation possible by next weekend.

AVIATION

(00Z TAFS) Issued at 422 PM MST Thu Feb 26 2026

VFR conditions will persist through the period at all sites. Currently, many locations across the state are seeing some breezy northwest winds of 15 to 20 kts, with gusts up to 30 kts at KFMN, KABQ, KAEG, and KCQC. These breezy conditions will continue through the end of the afternoon and early evening, before winds become more light and variable overnight. Overall, few to scattered high clouds will be streaming into the area from the northwest. Breezy WNW winds will return for the central highlands tomorrow afternoon, with similar wind speeds to today.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 110 PM MST Thu Feb 26 2026

Elevated fire weather conditions continue across much of central and eastern NM today with breezy northwest winds peaking around 30-35mph in gusts. Humidity values will most likely be in the lower 20s to mid teens. Humidity values drop lower on Friday, with widespread low teens to high single digit humidity values, except for northwest NM which will sit in the high teens to low 20s. Winds decrease slightly on Friday, but there will most likely be gusts up to 30mph, mainly across the Central Highlands. A few hours of critical fire weather conditions are possible across the Central Highlands Friday afternoon due to this. Elevated conditions remain throughout the weekend with breezy and dry conditions. A storm system looks to move through the area Tuesday into Wednesday, favored to bring rain and mountain snow to northern NM and possibly stronger southwest winds to eastern NM.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 33 67 35 68 / 0 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 24 63 26 66 / 0 0 0 0 Cuba............................ 32 65 34 67 / 0 0 0 0 Gallup.......................... 28 70 30 72 / 0 0 0 0 El Morro........................ 34 67 37 70 / 0 0 0 0 Grants.......................... 29 71 31 74 / 0 0 0 0 Quemado......................... 35 70 37 73 / 0 0 0 0 Magdalena....................... 40 72 43 74 / 0 0 0 0 Datil........................... 36 69 39 72 / 0 0 0 0 Reserve......................... 36 78 38 80 / 0 0 0 0 Glenwood........................ 40 82 42 84 / 0 0 0 0 Chama........................... 24 57 28 59 / 0 0 0 0 Los Alamos...................... 37 64 40 66 / 0 0 0 0 Pecos........................... 34 68 38 71 / 0 0 0 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 31 60 34 62 / 0 0 0 0 Red River....................... 27 52 30 55 / 0 0 0 0 Angel Fire...................... 21 59 25 61 / 0 0 0 0 Taos............................ 25 64 28 66 / 0 0 0 0 Mora............................ 32 68 36 71 / 0 0 0 0 Espanola........................ 31 71 34 74 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Fe........................ 38 66 41 68 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 34 69 36 70 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 43 72 46 73 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 40 74 42 75 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 38 76 40 77 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 40 74 41 75 / 0 0 0 0 Belen........................... 35 75 37 76 / 0 0 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 38 75 40 76 / 0 0 0 0 Bosque Farms.................... 34 75 37 77 / 0 0 0 0 Corrales........................ 38 76 40 77 / 0 0 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 35 75 38 76 / 0 0 0 0 Placitas........................ 41 70 43 71 / 0 0 0 0 Rio Rancho...................... 39 75 40 76 / 0 0 0 0 Socorro......................... 42 78 44 80 / 0 0 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 40 67 41 69 / 0 0 0 0 Tijeras......................... 40 67 42 68 / 0 0 0 0 Edgewood........................ 37 70 38 72 / 0 0 0 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 33 71 33 74 / 0 0 0 0 Clines Corners.................. 35 66 37 69 / 0 0 0 0 Mountainair..................... 37 70 40 72 / 0 0 0 0 Gran Quivira.................... 37 70 40 73 / 0 0 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 43 74 46 77 / 0 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 43 70 46 72 / 0 0 0 0 Capulin......................... 27 67 33 68 / 0 0 0 0 Raton........................... 25 71 30 72 / 0 0 0 0 Springer........................ 26 73 30 75 / 0 0 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 31 72 35 74 / 0 0 0 0 Clayton......................... 35 72 38 74 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 32 72 36 73 / 0 0 0 0 Conchas......................... 34 78 37 80 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 38 77 41 79 / 0 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 35 77 37 80 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 40 79 42 82 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 38 80 41 84 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 38 81 41 83 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 43 84 44 87 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 43 82 46 84 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 42 83 45 87 / 0 0 0 0

ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.