textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 127 AM MST Thu Feb 19 2026

- Hazardous west northwest crosswinds around 50 mph will persist across the central highlands this morning mainly impacting Highway 285, Highway 84, and Route 3. West crosswinds will probably gust from 40 to 60 mph across much of the area along and east of the central mountain chain on Friday.

- Snow will produce winter driving conditions across the west central and northern mountains tonight and Friday, with a moderate risk of snow squalls even at lower elevations Friday morning as a blustery cold front crosses west central, northwest, and north central New Mexico. - Critical fire weather conditions will increase the risk of rapid fire spread across northeast and east central areas today and Friday.

SHORT TERM

(Today through Friday) Issued at 127 AM MST Thu Feb 19 2026

Northwest wind gusts around 50 mph will linger this morning around Clines Corners and Vaughn, as the tail end of a jet max aloft gradually exits east of New Mexico. Elsewhere along and east of the central mountain chain, wind gusts will generally reach 30-40 mph, except for lighter winds on the Chaves County plains including Roswell. Humidities will be low enough for critical fire weather conditions across northeast areas along and east of I-25 this afternoon, as well as across the east central plains.

Another upper level trough and gusty Pacific cold front will pass eastward over the central and southern Rockies with a quick burst of snow tonight and Friday. Precip-wise, this system should be very similar to the snow makers that crossed Tuesday and Wednesday. The northern mountains and Chuska Mountains will be favored for a few inches of snow, except up to 6 inches on higher ridgelines of the Tusas and Chuska Mountains. Instability looks sufficient Friday morning for snow-squall-like conditions as the blustery Pacific cold front crosses west central, northwest, and north central parts of the forecast area with an hour or so of visibilities around 1/4-1/2 mile, wind gusts from 40-50 mph, and a quick inch or so of snow. Low temperatures mostly in the teens and 20s Friday morning will enable the snow to stick causing quick deterioration of road conditions and making driving hazardous along the continental divide, and around Gallup, Farmington, and Taos. Snow will gradually decrease in coverage and intensity Friday afternoon, lingering longest near the CO border.

Windy conditions will also return on Friday as the upper trough steers another jet streak over the forecast area. Wind speeds at 700 mb look to vary around 40-55 KT, while a ~998 mb surface low develops over the northeast corner of NM. This will enable wind gusts from 50-60 mph along the central mountain chain, and eastward across the northeast and east central plains. Lighter gusts from 35-50 mph are likely elsewhere across the forecast area. Humidities will be low enough on Friday for critical fire weather conditions on the eastern plains in the afternoon.

Otherwise, high temperatures will vary from near to around 19 degrees below 1991-2020 averages with the greatest departures from average near the northern and western borders of NM.

LONG TERM

(Friday night through Wednesday) Issued at 127 AM MST Thu Feb 19 2026

Dry weather is forecast this weekend and during the first half of the coming work week as a ridge of high pressure builds over the Desert Southwest. After another cool day Saturday, high temperatures will trend warmer, reaching a few to several degrees above 30-year averages across all but the lower Pecos River Valley Monday, and around 5-19 degrees above average areawide Tuesday and Wednesday. An increasingly active storm track over the northern and central Rockies will weaken the ridge aloft Tuesday and Wednesday, with stronger flow aloft and gustier surface winds.

AVIATION

(06Z TAFS) Issued at 1030 PM MST Wed Feb 18 2026

The Pacific front has pushed past the central mountain chain and will continue to race eastward through the night. The batch of snow showers associated with the front are rapidly diminishing and should be confined to just the peaks of the southwest and northern mountains after 09Z. Gusty west winds will persist through the night in eastern NM and mountain wave activity is likely to intensify on the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo mountains overnight. LLWS is likely throughout much of eastern NM, diminishing in the late morning as winds aloft decrease. Thursday will be less windy than today, but gusts of 25 to 35 kts will still be commonplace during the afternoon in eastern NM, with lighter winds in central and western areas. Snow showers will begin to increase in coverage across far northwestern NM towards the end of the TAF period.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 127 AM MST Thu Feb 19 2026

With ERC's varying from the 50th to 95th percentile, humidities from 9-18 percent, and wind gusts up to 40 mph this afternoon, we decided to expand the ongoing Red Flag Warning for this afternoon westward to the I-25 corridor from Las Vegas northward. Winds will strengthen on Friday, when the northeast highlands will feel higher humidities and a chance for snow showers. However, it should be drier on Friday compared to today over Guadalupe County, so Friday's Fire Weather Watch will be expanded to the eastern half of the Central Highlands with this forecast package. Depending on how well the upper level ridge breaks down, Tuesday and Wednesday will probably be our next days with a risk of critical fire weather conditions. Otherwise, broad areas of poor ventilation are forecast over central and western parts of the fire weather forecast area on Saturday and Sunday. Poor ventilation will probably spread to northeast areas as well on Monday.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 37 27 38 14 / 5 60 50 5 Dulce........................... 30 19 31 3 / 10 90 100 10 Cuba............................ 35 23 34 13 / 20 50 80 10 Gallup.......................... 37 23 36 4 / 20 50 40 0 El Morro........................ 36 22 34 10 / 30 30 70 0 Grants.......................... 41 24 38 11 / 10 20 30 0 Quemado......................... 41 25 40 17 / 20 10 20 0 Magdalena....................... 46 29 47 24 / 10 0 10 0 Datil........................... 41 25 41 19 / 10 0 20 0 Reserve......................... 45 29 45 15 / 30 10 20 0 Glenwood........................ 49 32 47 18 / 30 20 20 0 Chama........................... 25 12 25 3 / 10 90 100 10 Los Alamos...................... 36 24 37 18 / 10 30 80 5 Pecos........................... 37 22 37 16 / 10 20 70 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 29 18 30 10 / 5 30 90 0 Red River....................... 22 11 22 6 / 10 40 90 5 Angel Fire...................... 26 13 28 -5 / 10 30 80 5 Taos............................ 33 20 34 9 / 10 30 90 0 Mora............................ 36 20 36 13 / 5 20 60 0 Espanola........................ 43 24 43 15 / 10 20 30 5 Santa Fe........................ 37 26 38 20 / 20 30 40 5 Santa Fe Airport................ 41 25 41 17 / 10 20 30 5 Albuquerque Foothills........... 44 31 45 28 / 20 20 20 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 48 31 47 25 / 10 10 20 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 50 30 49 22 / 10 10 20 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 48 29 47 25 / 10 10 20 0 Belen........................... 52 30 51 17 / 10 5 20 0 Bernalillo...................... 47 30 47 24 / 10 20 30 0 Bosque Farms.................... 51 30 50 16 / 10 5 20 0 Corrales........................ 48 30 47 23 / 10 20 20 0 Los Lunas....................... 51 30 50 17 / 10 5 20 0 Placitas........................ 43 30 44 25 / 10 20 20 0 Rio Rancho...................... 47 29 46 25 / 10 10 20 0 Socorro......................... 55 31 55 25 / 5 0 5 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 39 26 39 22 / 20 20 60 0 Tijeras......................... 41 27 42 23 / 20 20 20 0 Edgewood........................ 41 24 42 20 / 10 10 20 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 44 23 44 15 / 5 10 30 0 Clines Corners.................. 39 24 40 18 / 0 5 20 0 Mountainair..................... 42 27 44 20 / 10 5 10 0 Gran Quivira.................... 44 28 47 21 / 10 5 10 0 Carrizozo....................... 52 35 52 26 / 5 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 44 31 45 25 / 0 0 0 0 Capulin......................... 40 16 41 11 / 0 0 20 0 Raton........................... 42 16 42 10 / 0 5 40 0 Springer........................ 45 18 46 12 / 0 5 20 0 Las Vegas....................... 41 23 41 15 / 0 5 30 0 Clayton......................... 49 20 50 17 / 0 0 10 0 Roy............................. 47 22 47 16 / 0 5 10 0 Conchas......................... 55 25 55 20 / 0 0 5 0 Santa Rosa...................... 51 25 53 23 / 0 0 5 0 Tucumcari....................... 55 26 57 20 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 56 29 59 25 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 58 30 60 25 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 56 28 59 24 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 65 36 66 29 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 56 36 57 27 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 54 35 52 25 / 0 0 0 0

ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Wind Advisory until 5 AM MST early this morning for NMZ230>232- 234-235-237.

Red Flag Warning from noon today to 6 PM MST this evening for NMZ104-123-126.

Fire Weather Watch Friday afternoon for NMZ104-125-126.

High Wind Warning until 5 AM MST early this morning for NMZ212>215-223-226>229-233-239-240.

Wind Advisory from 5 AM early this morning to noon MST today for NMZ223-233.