830 FXUS65 KABQ 130636 AFDABQArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1236 AM MDT Sat Sep 13 2025
...New SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, AVIATION, FIRE WEATHER...
.KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 1105 PM MDT Fri Sep 12 2025
- There is a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms along and east of the central mountain chain Saturday afternoon and evening. Severe gusty winds, small hail, and heavy downpours will be the most common threat.
- There is a marginal to slight risk of excessive rainfall today, especially in central to eastern New Mexico. Flash flooding in flood prone areas and recent burn scars will be possible.
&&
.SHORT TERM... (Tonight through Sunday) Issued at 1105 PM MDT Fri Sep 12 2025
A deep upper level trough over the Great Basin will translate eastward across the Rockies and over the high plains today through tonight. A vort lobe at the base of the trough will leave AZ and cross NM, producing large scale ascent with a moisture plume preceding the upward forcing. This will continue to spread scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms over the state. By late today, a cessation of precipitation will occur in western NM zones as the base of the trough moves eastward, followed by a significant cool, dry air intrusion. This will shove precipitation to eastern zones this evening before slowly dwindling into the early morning hours. With a 70-80 kt jet at 300 mb bisecting NM, significant speed shear will be introduced, keeping the potential for occasional rotating updrafts while storms move at a brisk pace (20-30 kt). A few marginally severe hailers and strong downbursts will accompany a few cells. As for the flooding threat, training cells (repeated storm movement over the same area) will be the the primary concern, as storms will be moving rather quickly. A couple of isolated flash flood warnings cannot be ruled out in central to eastern zones, but most of these areas should be able to hold 1 to 2 inches with minimal runoff problems. The Ruidoso burn scars will be a different story, as they will already be primed from Friday night`s rainfall. The Flash Flood Watch will continue for the northern Sacramento mountains through midnight (14/0600UTC).
Some patchy low stratus and ground fog will likely be left behind Sunday morning across portions of the San Juan, Rio Grande, and Estancia valleys, and perhaps in the Canadian and Pecos valleys too, depending on how water-logged soils become from rainfall. Any low clouds and/or fog will erode away through the late morning Sunday with drier air aloft continuing to overtake much of NM amid westerly flow in the wake of the trough. The soggy soils could keep dewpoints somewhat elevated in eastern areas, but they should still drop a few to several degrees along with lower PWATs. This will put the kibosh on storms with temperatures running a few degrees (3 to 7) below normal in many zones.
&&
.LONG TERM... (Sunday night through next Friday) Issued at 1105 PM MDT Fri Sep 12 2025
Into Monday, the westerly flow over NM decreases as a weaker upper low moves into the Idaho and vicinity. Winds at the surface will start to turn more southerly, gradually drawing up increased moisture and higher PWATs, particularly in eastern zones where readings will exceed an inch. A few airmass storms will develop in these eastern areas and to a lesser extent over the southwestern mountains Monday.
A little better monsoon plume begins to extend from southwestern to northeastern zones of NM on Tuesday with westerly flow staying light and mostly north of our state. This will yield scattered storm coverage Tuesday with diurnal and differential upslope heating being the primary driver.
The previously mentioned Idaho low will be making its way into the northern Great Plains by Wednesday with a hint of light northwesterly flow disrupting the monsoon plume over NM. This will reduce coverage, except in the northeastern zones where a weak surface front will slide in and offer faint moisture and surface convergence for storms. Storms could last in northeastern to east central zones through the late evening Wednesday. A sub-par storm coverage is then modeled for Thursday with the GEFS focusing QPF over northeast to east central zones with noisier signals on other ensembles as weak ridging overlays NM. The focus for precipitation would shift toward western zones Friday and Saturday, assuming the next Pacific Northwest low comes inland and starts to nudge the high east southeastward, drawing up the moisture plume into AZ and western NM. The operational ECMWF and EPS are more boastful with this scenario rather than the deterministic GFS.
&&
.AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1105 PM MDT Fri Sep 12 2025
Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms will continue for the remainder of tonight and Saturday morning, then through the afternoon and evening along and east of the continental divide. Drier air will begin to filter over west central areas during late morning, then spread over more of the west during the evening. After midnight Saturday night, scattered showers and storms will continue east of the central mountain chain. Models have been struggling to get a handle on the timing of storms crossing TAF sites, so confidence is low to moderate on the timing of PROB30 and TEMPO groups. A few storms may turn severe by producing large hail and/or gusts over 50 KT along and east of the central mountain chain Saturday afternoon and evening.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 1105 PM MDT Fri Sep 12 2025
An autumn-like storm system will bring healthy and fairly widespread rainfall today with many locations receiving amounts to temporarily soak fuels through the weekend. Excellent humidity recoveries are forecast this morning and again Sunday morning. After drying out Sunday afternoon, monsoon storms will slowly start to reappear Monday, mainly in eastern NM before expanding some Tuesday, only to reduce again through the middle of the week. This will keep additional soaking rainfall opportunities light and fleeting with generally spotty or even isolated footprints next week. Expect minimum humidity to periodically drop to 15 to 20 percent in many northwestern and west central zones each afternoon Monday through Thursday. With high pressure building back over NM late next week, winds aloft and at the surface will tend to stay light, except under a few strong thunderstorms.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 73 54 75 47 / 80 70 60 10 Dulce........................... 71 46 69 37 / 90 90 80 20 Cuba............................ 76 50 70 43 / 70 90 70 20 Gallup.......................... 75 49 74 39 / 80 50 30 0 El Morro........................ 73 50 71 41 / 90 70 50 5 Grants.......................... 80 51 74 40 / 90 80 60 10 Quemado......................... 77 50 74 44 / 70 70 40 5 Magdalena....................... 78 55 73 49 / 70 90 80 20 Datil........................... 77 50 72 43 / 80 80 70 10 Reserve......................... 79 51 78 44 / 70 70 40 5 Glenwood........................ 86 55 80 50 / 70 80 50 5 Chama........................... 67 45 63 37 / 80 90 80 20 Los Alamos...................... 78 54 67 49 / 50 90 80 30 Pecos........................... 79 52 68 45 / 30 80 70 40 Cerro/Questa.................... 77 49 67 40 / 30 90 60 20 Red River....................... 68 45 61 35 / 30 80 60 20 Angel Fire...................... 70 44 63 26 / 30 70 70 30 Taos............................ 79 51 70 41 / 30 90 60 20 Mora............................ 75 48 67 42 / 30 80 70 30 Espanola........................ 85 54 73 45 / 40 90 70 30 Santa Fe........................ 79 56 71 47 / 40 90 70 30 Santa Fe Airport................ 84 54 74 45 / 40 90 70 30 Albuquerque Foothills........... 84 59 75 54 / 60 90 80 30 Albuquerque Heights............. 88 60 77 55 / 60 90 70 30 Albuquerque Valley.............. 89 57 79 48 / 60 90 70 30 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 88 60 77 53 / 60 90 70 30 Belen........................... 90 60 80 54 / 60 90 70 20 Bernalillo...................... 88 59 77 51 / 60 90 70 30 Bosque Farms.................... 89 57 78 50 / 60 90 70 20 Corrales........................ 88 58 78 52 / 60 90 70 30 Los Lunas....................... 89 58 79 52 / 60 90 70 20 Placitas........................ 85 56 75 51 / 50 90 70 30 Rio Rancho...................... 85 59 76 53 / 60 90 70 30 Socorro......................... 91 61 80 55 / 50 90 80 20 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 78 54 70 47 / 60 100 80 30 Tijeras......................... 81 56 72 49 / 60 100 70 30 Edgewood........................ 79 55 71 46 / 50 90 80 30 Moriarty/Estancia............... 83 53 73 43 / 40 90 80 40 Clines Corners.................. 79 53 68 47 / 20 80 80 40 Mountainair..................... 81 54 72 47 / 40 90 80 30 Gran Quivira.................... 81 55 72 49 / 30 90 80 40 Carrizozo....................... 86 59 76 55 / 20 70 90 50 Ruidoso......................... 81 51 70 47 / 20 60 90 60 Capulin......................... 78 53 68 44 / 5 50 60 40 Raton........................... 82 53 71 44 / 10 50 60 30 Springer........................ 83 55 74 46 / 10 50 60 30 Las Vegas....................... 77 53 68 46 / 20 70 70 40 Clayton......................... 86 60 73 54 / 0 20 60 40 Roy............................. 81 57 69 50 / 5 50 70 40 Conchas......................... 89 62 75 56 / 0 50 80 50 Santa Rosa...................... 86 60 74 54 / 5 60 80 60 Tucumcari....................... 87 61 76 56 / 0 30 80 60 Clovis.......................... 89 63 78 59 / 0 10 70 80 Portales........................ 89 63 80 59 / 0 10 80 80 Fort Sumner..................... 89 62 78 57 / 0 40 80 70 Roswell......................... 93 66 84 61 / 0 20 80 70 Picacho......................... 88 60 78 57 / 10 30 90 60 Elk............................. 82 56 77 54 / 10 30 90 60
&&
.ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flood Watch until midnight MDT tonight for NMZ226.
&&
$$
SHORT TERM...52 LONG TERM....52 AVIATION...44
NWS ABQ Office Area Forecast Discussion