Rain, snow pay a visit to the ABQ area

Rare precipitation does not dampen drought

Precipitation made a rare but welcome appearance, mainly across central New Mexico, on Sunday, dropping 5 inches of snow in Sandia Park, nearly a quarter of an inch of rain in parts of Albuquerque and three-quarters of an inch in portions of Rio Rancho.

Only in a winter like this one — so dry that nearly 80 percent of the state is in severe drought and the mountain snowpacks are a joke that’s not funny — could make a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon seem pleasant.

The wet weather was a nice respite but no fix for the state’s problems, said Daniel Porter, science and operations officer with the Albuquerque office of the National Weather Service.

“It won’t put any dent in our drought conditions,” Porter said. “But it will delay our fire season some.”

He said there is a chance we might get more of the same this coming weekend.

Rain across Albuquerque this past Sunday ranged from 0.10 inches to 0.23 inches, with the heaviest amounts falling in the northwest part of the city. Reported rainfall in Rio Rancho ranges from 0.25 to 0.75 inches. Corrales took in a steady, soaking rain of 0.27 inches. Bernalillo got about a quarter of an inch and Santa Fe received 0.10 to 0.22 inches.

Ponderosa, near Jemez Springs, got 3.5 inches of snow.

Todd Shoemake, a meteorologist with the Albuquerque office of the Weather Service, said the weather calms down today and warms up noticeably. Albuquerque’s highs will be in the low 60s.

On Wednesday, however, Shoemake said a little bit of moisture will move into the northwest part of New Mexico, bringing with it a 50 to 60 percent chance of precipitation, maybe even some snow, in the Dulce area of Rio Arriba County. He said that trend continues Thursday with moisture and breezy to windy conditions moving across the state and offering minimal precipitation to the higher elevations of north-central New Mexico.

On Friday, Shoemake said, windy conditions and low humidity might make for a couple of hours of critical fire weather in the eastern part of the state.

Unsettled weather on Saturday and Sunday brings a potential for showers, mostly in the northern and central parts of the state, and cooler temperatures on Sunday, Shoemake said.

“We might get some light to localized precipitation on Sunday,” Porter said. “It will be similar to what we saw this past Sunday. Not a blockbuster event.”

But in this dry year, it will be a blessing. No matter how chilling and miserable it is.