Storms to bring variety of weather to region this week

High winds, fire danger today likely to switch to precipitation, possible snow

The weather in the coming week will call for New Mexicans to be adaptable.

Blustery, dry conditions will create fire hazards Tuesday, followed by rain and snow through much of Northern New Mexico at midweek that then calm into clear, sunny weather heading into the weekend, before the winds kick up again, according to National Weather Service forecasts.

Strong winds will precede the storm system, combining with low humidity and above-normal warmth to amplify fire hazards to a red flag warning across much of the region Tuesday, meteorologists said during a Monday briefing.

The winds create the potential for even a small blaze to quickly escalate.

“We encourage folks not to start any outdoor fires or do anything that can potentially cause a spark because any fires that do develop will have the ability to spread relatively rapidly across the region,” meteorologist Dan Porter said, “especially in this tinder-dry environment we’re in, given the drought conditions.”

The storm will move east across the state, bringing much-needed precipitation, though snow probably will fall above 6,000 feet elevation in the northern and western mountains, with the lower altitudes getting mostly rain, meteorologist Alyssa Clements said.

Northern mountain peaks could pick up 4 to 8 inches of snow, and the adjacent highlands will get a dusting, she added.

Temperatures in the region will be 10 to 15 degrees above normal Tuesday and drop to 10 to 15 degrees below normal by Thursday, Clements said. But the colder temperatures will arrive too late to generate widespread snowfall, she said.

Still, the more frigid nighttime temperatures will result in slicker driving conditions, especially in the mountains, as the wet roads turn icy, she said.

Clements said anything that dampens the drought is good news.

“Certainly we’ll take all we can get,” Clements said.

A weaker, secondary storm system will come Thursday that could add an inch or two of snow in the high country while keeping roadways slick through much of the region, Clements said.

Things will quiet down Friday as the storms move on, leading to a clear, calm Saturday before winds whip up again on Sunday, perhaps causing increased fire danger, she said.

A storm moving into the Pacific Northwest now will be the one that arrives in New Mexico midweek, and another storm system is predicted to push into the region next week, Porter said.

“Sometimes we have to look several hundred miles away to see where our next storm system is coming from,” he said.