textproduct: El Paso

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 530 AM MDT Mon May 18 2026

- Critical fire weather conditions today due to strong winds and very low humidity. Red Flag Warnings in effect for most of New Mexico and West Texas.

- Lighter winds, but still breezy conditions during the afternoons, Tuesday through the rest of the week. While some low level moisture will try to work in from the east during the overnights, the chance for showers and thunderstorms will mainly be focused east of the area.

..REMAINDER OF THE WEEK

Dry westerly flow looks to win out for the remainder of the week with upper level ridging building in across the Desert Southwest. Temperatures during the second half of the forecast period will hover right around the seasonal average for Memorial Day Weekend.

AVIATION

(12Z TAFS) Issued at 530 AM MDT Mon May 18 2026

Another breezy to windy day is forecast. Winds are already gusty at KELP and will will increase this afternoon for all sites to around 20 knots with gusts of 30-35 knots. This will put KELP close to AWW this afternoon but latest guidance has speeds just short of criteria. Direction will be from the W to SW (220-270), which may bring BLDU into TAF sites, but given lack of VIS reductions on Sunday, I am not confident enough to include mention in this TAF cycle. Winds will finally decrease around 6z. Skies will be SKC-FEW250 for the period.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 530 AM MDT Mon May 18 2026

Another warm, dry, and breezy to windy day is expected today as an UL trough moves through the Western CONUS. Twenty-foot speeds will top out around 15 to 25 MPH with the strongest winds across higher elevations and east slope areas. Wind gusts will range 40 to 50 MPH with up to 55 MPH in the Sacramento Mountains. Min RH values will be slightly higher than yesterday but still are expected to drop to around 10%. A Red Flag Warning is in effect for all but Hudspeth County. Tomorrow will continue to be very dry but winds will be much lighter, topping out between 10 and 20 MPH. The dry weather will continue for the rest of the forecast but with no critical wind speeds expected. The exception will be for far eastern areas as a dry line moves back and forth across the Sacramento Mountains and eastern Hudspeth County. Venting will be excellent with smoke transport to the northeast for today and tomorrow.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

El Paso 64 92 64 92 / 0 0 0 0 Sierra Blanca 57 89 57 88 / 0 0 0 10 Las Cruces 54 88 55 88 / 0 0 0 0 Alamogordo 56 88 59 88 / 0 0 0 0 Cloudcroft 43 67 44 66 / 0 0 0 10 Truth or Consequences 55 86 57 87 / 0 0 0 0 Silver City 48 80 52 79 / 0 0 0 0 Deming 53 91 54 91 / 0 0 0 0 Lordsburg 51 86 55 86 / 0 0 0 0 West El Paso Metro 63 90 64 90 / 0 0 0 0 Dell City 56 91 55 88 / 0 0 0 20 Fort Hancock 61 97 62 96 / 0 0 0 0 Loma Linda 59 84 59 84 / 0 0 0 0 Fabens 61 94 60 94 / 0 0 0 0 Santa Teresa 57 89 57 89 / 0 0 0 0 White Sands HQ 64 89 65 90 / 0 0 0 0 Jornada Range 54 88 55 88 / 0 0 0 0 Hatch 53 90 55 91 / 0 0 0 0 Columbus 59 92 60 91 / 0 0 0 10 Orogrande 56 87 57 87 / 0 0 0 0 Mayhill 50 80 48 77 / 0 0 0 30 Mescalero 48 77 48 77 / 0 0 0 10 Timberon 46 75 46 74 / 0 0 0 10 Winston 42 80 46 79 / 0 0 0 0 Hillsboro 53 84 56 85 / 0 0 0 0 Spaceport 50 86 53 87 / 0 0 0 0 Lake Roberts 43 80 47 80 / 0 0 0 0 Hurley 47 83 50 83 / 0 0 0 0 Cliff 47 85 50 86 / 0 0 0 0 Mule Creek 46 81 49 81 / 0 0 0 0 Faywood 50 82 53 82 / 0 0 0 0 Animas 51 87 54 86 / 0 0 0 0 Hachita 51 88 54 87 / 0 0 0 0 Antelope Wells 51 88 55 87 / 0 0 0 0 Cloverdale 51 81 55 80 / 0 0 0 0

EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

TX...Red Flag Warning from 9 AM this morning to 8 PM MDT this evening for Texas Fire Weather Zone 055 El Paso County.

NM...Red Flag Warning from 9 AM this morning to 8 PM MDT this evening for South Central Lowlands and Southern Rio Grande Valley/BLM/GLZ- Southwest Deserts and Lowlands/Las Cruces BLM/GLZ- Southwest Mountains/Gila NF/Apache NF/GLZ.

Red Flag Warning until 11 PM MDT this evening for Capitan and Sacramento Mountains/Lincoln NF/LNZ.

Wind Advisory until 6 PM MDT this evening for East Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet-Sacramento Mountains Above 7500 Feet-West Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet.