Stormier & slightly cooler for now

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Flooding rainfall will be even more widespread today than yesterday with slightly lower temperatures for some as a result in the short term. Showers this morning are lingering around to the southeast of Farmington in-between Highway 371 to Highway 550 around Huerfano, with very light rain dissipating in parts of the communities surrounding Zuni, Ramah, and Grants. A few clouds are leftover otherwise across the region with more-widespread humid air with near normal to slightly above-normal morning temperatures. With the atmosphere mixing around more with more moisture and upper-level winds more from the northwest, haze is not as concentrated higher up as well as near the surface with better air quality as a result. The plumes of wildfire smoke to the northwest will move to the east of New Mexico, courtesy of the clockwise-circulating Monsoon high pressure system to the south of southern Nevada moving slightly to the southeast today. In turn, this is allowing for more low-level tropical moisture from the southeast.

Once again, temperatures are slightly higher this morning for many with temperatures primarily in the 40’s, 50’s, and lower 60’s for most of the northern mountain communities, while most valley locations are ranging from the high 50’s to the lower 70’s. As temperatures rise into the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and near 100 degrees across the region, more moisture in the air, with the daytime heating, will still lead to more pockets of rainfall, especially in The Gila National Forest once again and from the mountain ranges of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to The Sacramento Mountains, as well as many communities in The Rio Grande Valley. Burn-scar flash flooding a bit more likely in the northern mountains especially, as well as the northern burn scars around Ruidoso. A few of the thunderstorms may initially be slow-moving as they form early this afternoon in the mountains, but then, the storms will strengthen while speeding up to the south-southeast this afternoon across a wider portion of The I-25 corridor eventually. Pockets of heavy rain, some hail, erratic winds, and frequent lightning strikes will be more likely with the storms in the short term.

After the wetter pattern today, The Monsoon high pressure will move around The Land of Enchantment tomorrow, bringing in more-stable air aloft despite lingering moisture at the surface. Later this weekend, the atmosphere will dry out more from top to bottom with temperatures climbing even more once again through next week.

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