textproduct: El Paso

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 953 PM MDT Sun Mar 15 2026

- A backdoor cold front is pushing in from the Great Plains tonight bringing breezy east winds, with a few gusts reaching 40 to 45 mph along west-facing mountain slopes overnight and into Monday morning. - Cooler temperatures will make a brief appearance on Monday.

- Temperatures will trend sharply warmer from Tuesday, reaching 20 to 25 degrees above normal by the end of the week. Highs in the 90s will be common in the lowlands.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 953 PM MDT Sun Mar 15 2026

A backdoor cold front is pushing in from the Great Plains tonight and will continue to trek westward across New Mexico bringing breezy east winds as it does so. Winds will become light by the afternoon hours Monday. A brief cool down is also in store post- front. Highs across the lowlands tomorrow will generally be in the 60s to low 70s. Cooler temperatures will be found east of the Rio Grande and warmer temperatures closer towards the AZ border. This will be around a 10-15 degree drop from temperatures we saw yesterday. Tuesday and onward will feature a rapid warmup as high pressure off the SoCal coast will intensify and will slowly meander eastward and strengthen over the lower CO Basin in SW AZ bringing us unseasonably warm temperatures later this week.

AVIATION

(06Z TAFS) Issued at 953 PM MDT Sun Mar 15 2026

VFR conditions persists through the TAF period with passing high clouds. Easterly breeziness will continue through the overnight hours but will diminish late morning and definitely by the afternoon hours.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 123 PM MDT Sun Mar 15 2026

Despite gusty winds and diminishing RH values, fire weather conditions have so far proven marginal in much of SW New Mexico this afternoon. Strongest winds for the remainder of the afternoon will generally be east of the Black Range and then east of the Rio Grande, with intensity slowly diminishing.

A backdoor cold front will push into the area late tonight, stalling out near the Continental Divide on Monday morning. Cooler temperatures will filter in behind the front, but highs will remain above normal Monday in the Gila and Bootheel Regions. Cooler than normal temperatures will mainly be found near and east of the Rio Grande.

A sprawling upper level ridge, unusually strong for this time of year, will bring sharply higher temperatures to the area next week, especially Wednesday through at least Sunday. High temperatures will be pushing March records, with lower to middle 90s expected across the lowlands. Minimum RH values will dip below 5 percent by late in the week. Winds, however, will be light, so the main concern will be enhanced drying of fuels, putting us in a bad position later in the month as we're bound to see some windy days eventually.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

El Paso 41 67 41 79 / 0 0 0 0 Sierra Blanca 32 60 32 75 / 0 0 0 0 Las Cruces 38 64 36 76 / 0 0 0 0 Alamogordo 35 63 34 75 / 0 0 0 0 Cloudcroft 25 45 28 55 / 0 0 0 0 Truth or Consequences 43 68 41 80 / 0 0 0 0 Silver City 39 67 39 75 / 0 0 0 0 Deming 41 69 38 80 / 0 0 0 0 Lordsburg 42 71 39 80 / 0 0 0 0 West El Paso Metro 42 66 42 77 / 0 0 0 0 Dell City 33 60 29 79 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Hancock 38 69 37 82 / 0 0 0 0 Loma Linda 33 60 36 71 / 0 0 0 0 Fabens 40 68 39 80 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Teresa 40 65 38 76 / 0 0 0 0 White Sands HQ 41 65 41 78 / 0 0 0 0 Jornada Range 35 65 33 78 / 0 0 0 0 Hatch 38 70 35 81 / 0 0 0 0 Columbus 43 69 41 80 / 0 0 0 0 Orogrande 35 63 33 75 / 0 0 0 0 Mayhill 21 59 32 71 / 0 0 0 0 Mescalero 25 55 30 67 / 0 0 0 0 Timberon 26 52 31 63 / 0 0 0 0 Winston 32 67 31 77 / 0 0 0 0 Hillsboro 41 69 41 79 / 0 0 0 0 Spaceport 35 65 33 79 / 0 0 0 0 Lake Roberts 37 69 36 77 / 0 0 0 0 Hurley 36 68 36 77 / 0 0 0 0 Cliff 40 75 37 82 / 0 0 0 0 Mule Creek 40 71 39 78 / 0 0 0 0 Faywood 39 65 39 76 / 0 0 0 0 Animas 43 73 41 81 / 0 0 0 0 Hachita 41 71 38 79 / 0 0 0 0 Antelope Wells 43 73 41 81 / 0 0 0 0 Cloverdale 45 73 45 78 / 0 0 0 0

EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

TX...None. NM...None.