Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Albuquerque, NM

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462 FXUS65 KABQ 080922 AFDABQ Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 322 AM MDT Sat Jun 8 2024 ...New SYNOPSIS, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, FIRE WEATHER... .SYNOPSIS...
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Issued at 319 AM MDT Sat Jun 8 2024 Today will be another hot one, but highs will be a few degrees cooler than the past couple days. Showers and storms will focus from the central mountain chain eastward, although some isolated activity is possible over the western high terrain as well. Precipitation chances increase Sunday and Monday when widespread to numerous storms will create an increased risk of flash flooding over recent burn scars. Some storms may become severe across eastern NM Sunday and again Monday. Drier weather returns mid-week as temperatures climb above average again.
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&& .SHORT TERM...
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(Today through Sunday) Issued at 319 AM MDT Sat Jun 8 2024 A long distance relationship between our recently departed upper high and a casually loitering low near the Baja CA will be the primary influence to sensible weather in the short term. The upper high continues sinking southeastward today, taking residence near the Gulf Coast. This will allow for a regime of quasi-northwest flow aloft to take shape while a backdoor sfc front surges southward and eastward across the Great Plains. A well-defined shortwave trough will slide across CO and northern NM in the afternoon, increasing large-scale ascent. While lift will be enhanced, suboptimal shear will limit storms from organizing and sustaining. Still, a rogue storm or two in northeastern NM could become ambitious, capable of large hail and damaging winds. Elsewhere, scant moisture will give rise to another day of gusty virga showers, with sudden and strong microburst winds possible. Coverage will be reduced but DCAPE values in excess of 1000 J/kg will still remain supreme for any cells that do form. The backdoor front will arrive into northeastern NM Saturday night, bringing with it an influx of moisture. PWATs across the eastern plains--which struggled to surpass and inch Saturday--will climb as high as 1.5in Sunday afternoon, with western locales rising closer to 0.75in. Meanwhile, the aforementioned loitering low will mosey into the Desert Southwest, becoming vague in its structure in the process. Multiple lobes of vorticity form with the low`s drunken stroll northeastward Sunday, further enhancing the day`s available lift. This combined with juicy Tds, reasonable shear of around 30 to 35 kts, and CAPE in excess of 1600 J/kg in spots could give rise to isolated to widely scattered severe storms Sunday afternoon. In addition to the threat of large hail and damaging winds, slow storm motions in northern NM could create the threat for flash flooding, particularly over burn scars in the central mts. Without strong deviations amongst guidance, do expect at a Flash Flood Watch will be issued in future updates. Temperatures will be just shy of Heat Advisory criteria for the RGV and locales in the eastern plains today but will still be well above average for early June. A marked cooldown will take place Sunday, with locales areawide seeing reductions of 5F to 15F compared to Saturday`s readings.
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&& .LONG TERM...
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(Sunday night through Friday) Issued at 319 AM MDT Sat Jun 8 2024 Convective activity Sunday may persist well into the overnight hours as cold pools collide and storms regenerate. The severe threat will mainly be in the form of wind, but flash flooding could be a concern as rounds of storms dump over the same areas. The vigorous convection in eastern NM will likely send a strong outflow boundary through the gaps of the central mountain chain, creating gusty east winds in east Albuquerque and increasing dewpoints into the low 50s along the Rio Grande Valley. The aformentioned slow-moving Low will help to focus Monday`s round of storms over the northern mountains and eastern plains again. There is some uncertainty on whether the atmosphere will destabilize enough to get strong updrafts and heavy rainfall rates, but the 200% of normal PWATs alone suggest the potential for efficient rainfall if there is enough afternoon clearing. Furthermore, there should be plenty of boundaries around from Sunday`s storms for updrafts to develop on. The GEFS is showing around a 50% chance of greater than 1" of rainfall along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo mountains for the Sunday afternoon through Monday afternoon time period with lesser probabilities (20-40%) over the eastern plains where heavy rainfall will be more localized. Storms along and west of the central mountain chain will be on the drier side with very small wetting footprints and gusty outflow winds that may kick up some dust. Storms in eastern NM may organize into an MCS on Monday. Shear looks slightly stronger than Sunday, but the feature would still likely be more cold-pool dominant. Areas with heavy rainfall on Sunday will be at risk for flash flooding again Monday. Convective activity trends down on Tuesday, but a shortwave is expected to clip the northeast corner of the state during the afternoon. Northwest flow will drive storms off the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo mountains into the eastern plains where they could become supercells. Ridging will attempt to amplify over the desert southwest on Wednesday, helping temperatures rise 5-10 degrees above average from the central mountain chain westward. Dryline activity is possible in far eastern NM and cannot rule out a few build-ups over the northern mountains either. Long-term ensemble guidance is coming into better agreement that ridging will continue to amplify over The Great Basin mid to late week. This will keep mostly dry conditions and light breezes around. However, the Low spinning off the coast of Baja California may begin to eject inland by Friday. The Low will phase with an approaching longwave trough from the Pacific Northwest, but the timing of that feature is highly uncertain right now.
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&& .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1139 PM MDT Fri Jun 7 2024 Remnant isold shwrs/tstms will continue tracking nely, diminishing in the early portion of the TAF period. Conditions will dry out overnight, with winds becoming mostly light and vrb. Aftn shwrs/tstm activity will return Saturday with the highest coverage favoring along and east of the central mts. Drier virga shwrs will be more likely across portions of the upper Rio Grande Valley and wwd, as well as the southwest mts. Storms across ern NM may be capable of becoming severe with large hail and damaging winds. Convective activity will diminish in the late evening. && .FIRE WEATHER...
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Issued at 319 AM MDT Sat Jun 8 2024 Improving moisture and lighter winds will help to limit critical fire weather conditions through the majority of the forecast period. A mix of wet/dry storms will prevail once again today capable of sudden and erratic downburst winds. A surge of moisture is expected Sunday, along with cooler temperatures areawide. The potential for strong to severe storms will favor areas east of the central mountains, with drier storms prevailing across the middle and lower Rio Grande Valley and westward. Storms will return Monday afternoon with an increase potentially in wetting footprints thanks to the continuing surge of moisture. High pressure begins to reform over New Mexico on Tuesday, allowing for dry air to quickly reenter the area. Low double and single digit min RH will return west of the central mountains, with min RH above 15 percent persisting across eastern New Mexico. Further drying is expected on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing all zones near or below critical RH thresholds. Outside of thunderstorm gusts, winds during this time will remain generally light to locally breezy. The ridge will breakdown on Friday as a Pacific disturbance makes its way through the Desert Southwest. This will bring the potential for breezy to locally windy south and southwest winds on Friday amongst low to moderate RH. Critical fire weather conditions may develop across portions of western New Mexico during this time, with elevated to near-critical fire weather conditions existing west of the central mountains.
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&& .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
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Farmington...................... 95 58 90 63 / 0 0 5 10 Dulce........................... 90 45 89 51 / 0 0 20 30 Cuba............................ 90 54 85 55 / 0 0 20 30 Gallup.......................... 91 52 84 53 / 0 0 5 10 El Morro........................ 86 56 79 52 / 0 0 20 30 Grants.......................... 91 54 84 52 / 0 0 20 30 Quemado......................... 88 56 81 53 / 5 10 30 20 Magdalena....................... 90 64 83 57 / 10 10 40 30 Datil........................... 87 61 80 54 / 10 10 40 30 Reserve......................... 92 49 87 50 / 10 10 30 20 Glenwood........................ 95 63 92 62 / 10 10 30 10 Chama........................... 84 46 83 49 / 0 0 30 40 Los Alamos...................... 89 64 83 58 / 10 5 50 40 Pecos........................... 92 57 83 55 / 20 10 70 70 Cerro/Questa.................... 84 50 80 51 / 20 5 70 50 Red River....................... 77 46 71 46 / 30 10 70 60 Angel Fire...................... 82 40 74 45 / 30 10 70 60 Taos............................ 91 51 84 52 / 10 5 60 50 Mora............................ 86 50 77 50 / 30 10 80 60 Espanola........................ 97 59 91 59 / 10 5 50 40 Santa Fe........................ 91 61 84 57 / 10 5 60 60 Santa Fe Airport................ 95 60 88 58 / 5 5 50 50 Albuquerque Foothills........... 96 69 87 62 / 0 5 40 50 Albuquerque Heights............. 97 67 89 63 / 0 5 30 40 Albuquerque Valley.............. 99 65 92 63 / 0 5 30 40 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 98 68 90 63 / 0 5 30 40 Belen........................... 99 64 91 61 / 5 5 30 40 Bernalillo...................... 99 67 91 62 / 0 5 30 40 Bosque Farms.................... 99 62 91 61 / 0 5 30 40 Corrales........................ 99 66 91 63 / 0 5 30 40 Los Lunas....................... 99 63 91 62 / 0 5 30 40 Placitas........................ 95 67 87 61 / 0 5 40 40 Rio Rancho...................... 98 68 90 63 / 0 5 30 40 Socorro......................... 101 69 93 63 / 5 10 20 30 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 89 63 83 56 / 0 5 40 50 Tijeras......................... 92 63 86 57 / 0 5 40 50 Edgewood........................ 93 60 86 55 / 0 5 50 50 Moriarty/Estancia............... 94 55 87 54 / 5 5 50 50 Clines Corners.................. 89 56 80 53 / 10 10 60 60 Mountainair..................... 92 59 84 54 / 5 10 40 50 Gran Quivira.................... 92 58 84 55 / 10 10 50 50 Carrizozo....................... 95 65 89 60 / 20 20 40 50 Ruidoso......................... 87 60 83 55 / 40 10 60 40 Capulin......................... 86 54 72 54 / 50 30 80 70 Raton........................... 90 55 80 54 / 40 20 80 60 Springer........................ 92 56 80 56 / 40 20 80 70 Las Vegas....................... 89 55 78 53 / 30 10 80 70 Clayton......................... 93 59 75 59 / 30 40 50 60 Roy............................. 92 58 78 57 / 30 20 70 80 Conchas......................... 101 64 86 61 / 20 20 60 80 Santa Rosa...................... 97 62 84 60 / 20 20 60 70 Tucumcari....................... 100 63 85 62 / 10 20 40 80 Clovis.......................... 100 66 90 62 / 10 30 30 80 Portales........................ 102 66 93 62 / 10 30 30 80 Fort Sumner..................... 100 65 90 62 / 20 20 40 70 Roswell......................... 104 73 97 68 / 10 10 20 50 Picacho......................... 95 64 90 60 / 40 10 60 50 Elk............................. 93 62 90 57 / 50 10 50 40
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&& .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...12 LONG TERM....16 AVIATION...12