Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Albuquerque, NM
Issued by NWS Albuquerque, NM
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583 FXUS65 KABQ 022008 CCA AFDABQ Area Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 108 PM MST Tue Dec 2 2025 ...New SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, FIRE WEATHER... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 1256 PM MST Tue Dec 2 2025 - Strong crosswinds will impact travel across east central New Mexico this afternoon and Saturday afternoon. - Minor to locally moderate travel impacts from snow over the northern mountains and adjacent highlands stretching down to I-40 near Clines Corners mid Wednesday into early Thursday. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Thursday) Issued at 1256 PM MST Tue Dec 2 2025 An upper level trough over the Pacific NW will quickly move southeast over the Great Basin this afternoon and evening. Dry westerly winds are expected across New Mexico this afternoon. The strongest west winds will be across the I-40 and U.S. 84/60 corridor between Clines Corners, Tucumcari, and Portales due to these locations being south of a surface lee low over northeast NM. Wind gusts of up to 45 mph are expected through sunset. Heading into the evening and overnight hours, mid level clouds along the CO border move southeast across the state as the upper level trough axis approaches the Four Corners region. At the same time, a backdoor front will enter far northeast NM before midnight moving through all of eastern NM come sunrise Wednesday. The backdoor front looks to push through the gaps of the central mountain chain mid Wednesday morning resulting in a east/southeast wind for the ABQ and Santa Fe Metro. The strength of this east wind is fairly uncertain as the backdoor front will be combating with a Pacific front on the leading edge of the trough axis coming in from the northwest. The upper level trough axis, potentially closed low, will be over the Four Corners region midday Wednesday with precipitation, mainly snow, breaking out across northwest and north central NM along the Pacific front and far northeast NM due to upslope flow behind the backdoor front. Snow, with some rain mixing in for lower elevations of the middle and lower RGV, moves southeast across the forecast area Wednesday evening through sunrise Thursday as the trough axis swings through. Snow will be most intense across the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo, Sandia and Manzano Mountains and over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains due to upslope easterly flow. Expanded the Winter Weather Advisories across north central NM and the northeast highlands to the Tusas Mountains and Central Highlands as these zones are now expected to see snowfall amounts approaching advisory criteria. Some high res guidance shows a brief period of heavier snow along the I-40 corridor between Moriarty and Santa Rosa, including Clines Corners early Thursday morning. Snow will quickly taper off across northeast and east central NM mid to late Thursday morning as the trough axis exits into the southern Great Plains. In the end, snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are expected across the far northwest highlands, Jemez Mountains Sandia and Manzano Mountains, Glorieta Pass, and northeast and central highlands. 3 to 4 inches across the upper RGV, including Taos, and 4 to 7 inches across the Tusas and Sangre de Cristo Mountains with locally up to 10 inches across the peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Santa Fe Metro will see around an inch and most of the ABQ Metro outside of the valley could see a dusting to 0.5 inch. Clearing skies on Thursday with a brisk breeze and chilly temperatures in the upper 30s to mid 40s across lower elevations. && .LONG TERM... (Thursday Night through Monday) Issued at 1256 PM MST Tue Dec 2 2025 Dry northwest flow is expected for the last few days of this week into early next week as the state remains between a upper high over the central Pacific and longwave troughing across much of the lower 48. High temperatures will gradually warm up beginning Friday from around 3 to 8 degrees below average that day to around 5 to 10 degrees above average early next week. Typical breezy northwest winds are expected across the Central Highlands most days. The one exception will be Saturday when northwest winds will be stronger with some gusts of up to 50 mph as an upper level trough among the large scale northwest flow swings southeast across the state. This trough will also result in some breezy northwest winds for the east central plains with max gusts of 35 to 40 mph for this zone. A weak backdoor front in this wake of this trough will pause the aforementioned warmup across northeast NM on Sunday. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1102 AM MST Tue Dec 2 2025 Increasing mid level clouds moving into northwest and northern parts of the airspace this afternoon ahead of an approaching system, Breezy west winds across east central NM this afternoon south of lee surface low over northeast NM. Peak wind gusts of 30 to 40 kts between KCVN, KTCC, and KCQC. Winds tapers off after sunset. A band of mid level clouds moves south and east across the area overnight with a backdoor front entering northeast NM just before midnight. This backdoor front will be through all of eastern NM by sunrise Wednesday. Some potential for the backdoor front to push through the gaps of the central mountain chain mid Wednesday morning bringing a southeast (east) wind to KSAF (KABQ) around 15Z. Introduced a light wind at around 10 kts for now, but this will be refined closer. Low clouds moving to areas along the CO border beginning around sunrise Wednesday with snow developing across the higher terrain in this zone at the end of the TAF period. MVFR ceilings at KFMN at the end of the TAF period. Finally, this is the last TAF issuance for KLVS. No new TAF issuances or amendments will be issued from this point going forward. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 1256 PM MST Tue Dec 2 2025 No critical fire weather conditions are expected through mid next week. Below normal temperatures through Friday, with the coldest day being Thursday when high temperatures will generally be 6 to 14 degrees below average. A system quickly moves across the state late Wednesday into early Thursday bringing snow to mainly northern and eastern New Mexico. The heaviest snow amounts of 6 to 10 inches will be across the Tusas and Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Dry and gradually warming up Friday into early next week with breezy northwest winds across the central highlands. The one exception will be breezy conditions east central New Mexico to locally windy conditions across the central highlands on Saturday. Very good ventilation across the western mountains Wednesday. Ventilation generally poor Thursday through early next week with areas of fair to locally good ventilation across eastern New Mexico. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 29 39 23 39 / 5 40 0 0 Dulce........................... 20 36 19 37 / 10 70 40 10 Cuba............................ 23 38 19 36 / 0 20 40 5 Gallup.......................... 22 40 14 41 / 0 20 5 0 El Morro........................ 24 40 20 40 / 0 10 30 5 Grants.......................... 21 44 18 44 / 0 5 20 5 Quemado......................... 22 45 21 41 / 0 20 20 5 Magdalena....................... 30 50 27 44 / 0 0 10 5 Datil........................... 25 46 21 41 / 0 5 20 0 Reserve......................... 22 52 19 51 / 0 10 10 5 Glenwood........................ 27 58 22 56 / 0 5 10 5 Chama........................... 17 32 15 32 / 10 90 70 20 Los Alamos...................... 27 39 23 36 / 0 20 80 10 Pecos........................... 24 38 18 36 / 0 10 90 10 Cerro/Questa.................... 22 35 18 33 / 0 60 90 10 Red River....................... 16 27 11 25 / 0 80 100 10 Angel Fire...................... 10 31 5 32 / 0 70 90 10 Taos............................ 18 38 18 36 / 0 30 80 10 Mora............................ 21 35 14 37 / 0 30 90 10 Espanola........................ 22 45 23 42 / 0 10 70 10 Santa Fe........................ 27 40 23 36 / 0 10 80 10 Santa Fe Airport................ 25 43 22 39 / 0 10 80 10 Albuquerque Foothills........... 33 47 30 42 / 0 5 60 10 Albuquerque Heights............. 28 49 29 44 / 0 5 50 5 Albuquerque Valley.............. 27 51 29 47 / 0 5 50 5 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 30 48 29 45 / 0 10 50 5 Belen........................... 23 53 28 46 / 0 5 30 5 Bernalillo...................... 27 49 28 45 / 0 10 60 5 Bosque Farms.................... 23 52 28 46 / 0 5 40 5 Corrales........................ 27 49 28 46 / 0 10 60 5 Los Lunas....................... 25 52 29 46 / 0 5 30 5 Placitas........................ 30 46 28 41 / 0 5 70 10 Rio Rancho...................... 29 48 28 45 / 0 10 50 5 Socorro......................... 30 58 30 51 / 0 5 30 5 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 26 42 23 37 / 0 5 70 10 Tijeras......................... 27 45 24 39 / 0 5 70 10 Edgewood........................ 23 45 21 38 / 0 10 70 10 Moriarty/Estancia............... 18 46 19 38 / 0 10 60 10 Clines Corners.................. 23 40 18 34 / 0 5 70 10 Mountainair..................... 26 47 23 40 / 0 10 50 10 Gran Quivira.................... 26 49 23 42 / 0 5 40 10 Carrizozo....................... 32 55 28 47 / 0 5 30 10 Ruidoso......................... 33 49 25 41 / 0 0 40 20 Capulin......................... 21 30 13 34 / 0 60 80 5 Raton........................... 21 35 15 35 / 0 80 90 5 Springer........................ 22 38 17 39 / 0 30 80 5 Las Vegas....................... 22 38 17 38 / 0 10 90 10 Clayton......................... 27 37 20 40 / 0 30 60 5 Roy............................. 25 39 20 37 / 0 20 70 0 Conchas......................... 25 46 24 43 / 0 5 60 10 Santa Rosa...................... 27 45 24 41 / 0 0 70 20 Tucumcari....................... 26 47 23 43 / 0 0 60 20 Clovis.......................... 29 51 25 41 / 0 0 30 20 Portales........................ 27 52 26 43 / 0 0 30 20 Fort Sumner..................... 27 51 25 42 / 0 0 50 20 Roswell......................... 31 59 29 44 / 0 0 20 10 Picacho......................... 32 56 26 43 / 0 0 20 5 Elk............................. 32 59 23 45 / 0 0 10 10 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from noon Wednesday to 5 AM MST Thursday for NMZ210-212>216-227>229. Winter Weather Advisory from 5 PM Wednesday to 5 AM MST Thursday for NMZ223. && $$ SHORT TERM...71 LONG TERM....71 AVIATION...71