Cloudy skies have stuck around this morning allowing temperatures in the state to be roughly 5-10 degrees warmer than 24 hours ago. Many locations are waking up to temperatures in the 30s, 40s and 50s. Today, unseasonably warm temperatures are expected to stick around with light rain chances and mountain snowfall. Cloud coverage may play a role by limiting how warm temperatures get this afternoon. Deeper moisture in the middle of the atmosphere will help produce spotty to isolated rainfall in western, central, and northern parts of New Mexico. Mountain snowfall is expected to pick up throughout the morning and into the afternoon in parts of the northern mountains. The National Weather Service has a Winter Weather Advisory for the Tusas Mountains, and Sangre De Cristo Mountains that will be in place until 11 am Sunday. Mountain passes are a concern with gusty winds, and snowfall which will create slick conditions. Some of that mountain snow may linger into Sunday morning as well.
In addition to the precipitation chances, breezy conditions are expected along the central mountain chain and in eastern New Mexico. Wind gusts in the northeast could range from 30 to 40+ mph on Saturday. Breezy conditions are also on tap for Sunday, in eastern New Mexico, as a backdoor cold front slides through bringing colder air along with it. Temperatures on Sunday and Monday will be seasonable in Albuquerque with high temperatures falling into the 40s. On Monday morning, wind chills may fall into the teens, single digits and 20s across the state.
In addition to the colder air, lingering moisture could produce snow showers throughout the day on Monday along the border of southern New Mexico and Texas. Confidence is lower right now on that set up, but we will keep you updated throughout the weekend. Next week high temperatures are expected to rebound into the 50s once again in the Duke City…