textproduct: Albuquerque

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 146 AM MDT Mon Apr 27 2026

- Critical fire weather conditions will pose a risk of rapid fire spread again today and Tuesday east of the central mountain chain.

- West and southwest crosswinds are forecast to peak around 45 mph on parts of the eastern plains this afternoon and Tuesday afternoon.

- Thursday through Friday, a strong Pacific storm system will bring soaking rain to many locations with ponding on roads being the main concern, and some cloud-to-ground lightning in the mix mainly over western areas Thursday and Friday. Winter travel conditions are likely in the northern mountains, especially Thursday night and Friday.

- East winds below canyons opening into the central valley Thursday night and Friday will produce a 35-45 mph crosswind on north-to-south roads from Santa Fe southward, and especially in Albuquerque.

SHORT TERM

(Today through Tuesday) Issued at 146 AM MDT Mon Apr 27 2026

With an active storm track over the western US keeping the flow aloft brisk over NM, breezy to windy conditions will return mainly to southern and eastern areas today, then to locations along and east of the central mountain chain on Tuesday. Peak gusts should reach around 45 mph both afternoons. Except for the northern mountains, where there will be some lingering light snow this morning, humidities will plummet mostly into the single digits again both days. Critical fire weather conditions will favor eastern areas both days, where winds will be the strongest.

High temperatures this afternoon will fall a few to 7 degrees over eastern area from Sunday's readings, while western readings rebound a few to 5 degrees. Readings will then climb a few to 5 degrees across the forecast area on Tuesday, when high temperatures will vary from as much as 6 degrees below 1991-2020 averages across the northwest to as much as 8 degrees above the averages south and east.

LONG TERM

(Tuesday night through Sunday) Issued at 146 AM MDT Mon Apr 27 2026

Behind Pacific and backdoor cold fronts that cross Tuesday night, winds will weaken while remaining seasonably gusty on Wednesday. A disturbance exiting the central Rockies has a 15-25 percent chance of producing light rain showers and thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon east of Red River to the OK border.

The latter half of the week will feature cooler weather and a chance for widespread and wetting rain showers, spottier thunderstorms, and mountain snow as a potentially strong low pressure system sweeps northeastward across NM. Light rain showers and high mountain snow will begin to overspread the forecast area Wednesday night as a gusty backdoor cold front dives southwestward through the eastern plains, and showers begin to stream northeastward over western NM ahead of the approaching storm system. Models agree fairly well that there will be widespread wetting precipitation as the upper low crosses slowly Thursday through Friday. Gusty easterly upslope flow will dominate the flow throughout this event favoring the eastern plains, mountains along and east of the continental divide, and adjacent east slopes for heaviest precipitation accumulation. Rain and liquid equivalent precip amounts are forecast to vary from 0.25-0.75", except for lighter amounts northwest of the continental divide, and heavier amounts generally up to 1.50" across northeast and east central NM. Some locally heavier amounts are also likely with the NBM's 90th percentile precip forecast indicating that a few spots on the eastern plains may receive around 3 inches of rain. Since the storm system will cross from the upper Baja Peninsula, it is not forecast to be particularly cold, so a few to several inches of snow should favor only the highest peaks; except for two noteable exceptions. The Tusas and Sangre de Cristo mountains look to accumulate a few inches of snow as low as 8000 feet, and several inches near and above 9000 feet, since the storm system will draw cool air over the northern mountains from the northwest. Most of that snow should fall Thursday night and Friday as 700 mb temperatures drop to around -2 C. By that time, most of the moisture will shift east of the western and southern tier of mountains.

Light rain and mountain snow showers are forecast to continue Friday night and Saturday as a secondary upper level trough drops south and southeastward across the state. There will probably also be some thunderstorms in the mix across eastern areas on Saturday afternoon. At this time, high temperatures look to bottom out on Friday around 7 to 27 degrees below 30-year averages. Readings should then rebound over the weekend. A ridge of high pressure will begin to move in from the west on Sunday with drier weather and high temperatures varying from a few degrees above average along the CO border to as much as 9 degrees below the average on the southeast plains.

AVIATION

(06Z TAFS) Issued at 1137 PM MDT Sun Apr 26 2026

Gusty winds will gradually taper off at TAF sites during the late night hours, while continuing along and just east of the central mountain chain, and also across the east central plains. West winds will strengthen further during early-to-mid Monday morning along and east of the central mountain chain, then back out of the southwest during the afternoon while gusts from 25-40 KT persist. Meanwhile, southwest gusts will peak from 20-35 KT are along and west of the Rio Grande Valley Monday afternoon. Winds will weaken with sunset Monday evening. Otherwise, there is a 15-30 percent chance of lingering snow showers capable of producing mountain obscurations in the northern mountains Monday morning, and as far west as Cuba and Dulce.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 146 AM MDT Mon Apr 27 2026

Critical fire weather conditions will continue to plague areas east of the central mountain chain today and Tuesday, where gusts will peak up to 45 mph. Farther west gusts will peak between 30 and 40 mph today, and between 25 and 35 mph Tuesday. Although winds will weaken on Wednesday, there is a roughly 40 percent chance that locally critical fire weather conditions will return to the Northeast Highlands in the afternoon. Behind a moist backdoor front that sinks into the eastern plains Tuesday night, minimum humidities should finally climb above 15 percent across most of the plains on Wednesday, while remaining critically low in most locations farther west.

Fire weather concerns will abate during the latter half of the week with widespread wetting precipitation forecast. The backdoor front that dives into the state Wednesday night is forecast to produce wind gusts up to 45 mph across northeast and east central areas. Thursday night and Friday, east wind gusts below canyons opening into the central valley are forecast by some models to peak between 30 and 45 mph from Santa Fe southward, with the strongest gusts below Tijeras Canyon in Albuquerque. And on Friday, northeast winds will probably again gust around 40 mph over east central and southeast areas, potentially higher.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Farmington...................... 67 37 67 37 / 0 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 61 25 63 23 / 30 0 0 0 Cuba............................ 64 31 64 33 / 10 0 0 0 Gallup.......................... 64 26 66 28 / 0 0 0 0 El Morro........................ 62 30 64 34 / 0 0 0 0 Grants.......................... 67 28 69 31 / 0 0 0 0 Quemado......................... 67 31 69 36 / 0 0 0 0 Magdalena....................... 70 39 74 45 / 0 0 0 0 Datil........................... 65 34 69 39 / 0 0 0 0 Reserve......................... 70 30 76 36 / 0 0 0 0 Glenwood........................ 75 34 80 40 / 0 0 0 0 Chama........................... 53 23 56 26 / 30 0 0 0 Los Alamos...................... 64 39 65 41 / 10 0 0 0 Pecos........................... 64 34 65 36 / 0 0 0 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 59 32 61 34 / 10 0 0 0 Red River....................... 53 27 58 28 / 10 0 0 0 Angel Fire...................... 55 22 57 22 / 10 0 0 0 Taos............................ 64 26 65 28 / 10 0 0 0 Mora............................ 64 33 65 32 / 5 0 0 0 Espanola........................ 70 35 72 36 / 5 0 0 0 Santa Fe........................ 64 38 66 41 / 5 0 0 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 67 36 69 38 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 72 45 74 48 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 74 41 76 44 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 77 40 79 43 / 0 0 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 75 43 76 45 / 0 0 0 0 Belen........................... 78 37 80 39 / 0 0 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 75 41 76 43 / 0 0 0 0 Bosque Farms.................... 77 36 79 39 / 0 0 0 0 Corrales........................ 76 41 78 44 / 0 0 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 77 39 79 41 / 0 0 0 0 Placitas........................ 70 43 72 45 / 0 0 0 0 Rio Rancho...................... 75 42 76 44 / 0 0 0 0 Socorro......................... 81 41 84 47 / 0 0 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 66 39 68 42 / 0 0 0 0 Tijeras......................... 69 38 72 41 / 0 0 0 0 Edgewood........................ 69 33 71 35 / 0 0 0 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 70 31 72 31 / 0 0 0 0 Clines Corners.................. 64 36 67 37 / 0 0 0 0 Mountainair..................... 70 36 72 38 / 0 0 0 0 Gran Quivira.................... 69 39 72 41 / 0 0 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 73 46 76 49 / 0 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 66 46 69 46 / 0 0 0 0 Capulin......................... 66 31 67 29 / 10 0 0 0 Raton........................... 70 31 70 30 / 5 0 0 0 Springer........................ 73 33 72 32 / 0 0 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 67 36 68 33 / 0 0 0 0 Clayton......................... 74 38 77 37 / 5 5 0 0 Roy............................. 73 36 73 36 / 0 0 0 0 Conchas......................... 80 43 81 41 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Rosa...................... 74 42 76 40 / 0 0 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 82 44 82 42 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 82 47 84 46 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 82 46 85 46 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 80 44 83 44 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 87 49 90 51 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 79 47 82 49 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 77 46 80 47 / 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 Tuesday morning through Tuesday evening for NMZ104-123-125-126.