RELIEF FROM THE HEAT
‘New records are likely; moisture limited’
Judah Atencio, 5, pops out of the pool with his swim teacher, Caitlin Fitzpatrick, at Eisenhower Pool on Wednesday. Pools were busy Wednesday as a heat wave hovered over the city. The National Weather Service in Albuquerque logged an official high of 99 degrees, but unofficial weather reports from around the city logged temperatures of over 100. Temperatures around the state rose above 100, including an official 107 degrees in Tucumcari.
When the local meteorologist describes the weather with a simple yet emphatic “it’s hot,” it must be.
“We have a heat wave. It intensified Wednesday and into the weekend. It’s going to be hot,” said Dwight Koehn, a hydro-meterological technician with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. And not much relief is in sight. “New records are likely, and moisture is limited,” Koehn said. “It will be hot for a few more weeks
until we get the monsoon established.”
But that won’t be as early as initially predicted.
National Weather staff in mid-June anticipated an early start to the monsoon season.
The state did get some moisture thanks to a push from remnants of Tropical Storm Bud, but has dried out in the days since.
“That (early monsoon start) is what was expected. But it’s not as early as we hoped,” Koehn said.
In the tropical storm’s place came a high pressure ridge which has allowed temperatures to soar.
“That high pressure is really strong right now,” Koehn said. “It’s not unusual, it’s just strong, and it’s going to be strong until something breaks it.”
But things that could break it — such as a low pressure system or another push from a tropical storm — aren’t on the horizon, though some south and southeast parts of the state could get just a bit of moisture next week.
“There is nothing like that in near future,” Koehn said.
So the state, especially the north and northwest areas, continue to endure aboveaverage temperatures for the season with many at over 100 degrees. Heat advisories persist across the state, though some showers were expected at high elevations in the south.
“It’s hot!” Koehn said.