Rain & cooler air creeping closer to Rio Grande Valley

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Two different weather patterns will battle it out today…The Monsoon wetter weather pattern to The Northwest, versus the hot and dry bubble to The Southeast with more Heat Advisories in effect. Showers, with some lightning strikes, are still holding together while moving north-northeast along I-25 from north of Hatch, through Truth or Consequences, and approaching Socorro. A few showers are also drifting from The Gila National Forest to The Zuni Mountains, as well as the far northwestern parts of The Four Corners. The western tier is dealing with more clouds, while everywhere else is mostly clear from clouds and still relatively mild. While moisture is slowly drifting east, where conditions have been dry in Eastern New Mexico will become even drier, courtesy of a high pressure system drifting to the east overhead.

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Morning temperatures are still a bit above normal, but it is a tad cooler, with the northern mountain communities mostly starting off around the high 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s, while valley locations are mostly ranging from the 50’s to the 70’s. As temperatures across the region rise from the morning school commute into the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and above 100 degrees for some areas by the afternoon, more moisture in the air that is mostly confined to the west, along with plenty of daytime heating, will lead to slightly more areas receiving rainfall across the viewing area. The western two-thirds of the region has the best chance of rain for today with the flash flooding risk still mostly low, but more possible in the early-to-mid afternoon hours. Hit-and-miss stronger thunderstorms will pick up speed to the northeast from The Gila National Forest, to The Northern Mountains, then eventually to not only parts of The Northeastern Highlands, but also, parts of The Rio Grande Valley. Today’s storms have the higher possibility for localized heavy doses of rain, some pockets of hail, stronger winds, and more-frequent lightning strikes.

While moisture coming in from the southwest continues to drift east across New Mexico, the strengthening high pressure in Far West Texas will continue to drift east by the weekend, allowing for the stormier pattern to become more widespread eventually, as well as the lower temperatures.

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