Stormy with snow ahead for New Mexico

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The strongest storm system of the season is inbound across the region with already some precipitation this morning, but there will be even more thunderstorms and snow to come this weekend temperatures dropping even more with strong winds.

Plenty of clouds with northeasterly-moving rain showers with a few local rumbles of thunder are present from the southwestern Rio Grande Valley, from the Pecos River Valley through the East Plains, and from the Four Corners through the Northern Mountains to the Northeast Highlands with some snow mixing in through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the San Juan Mountains. Along with the chill in the air to start for most across the region, southeasterly winds are in place with higher gusts in the mountains as temperatures are ranging from the upper 20s to the low 60s across New Mexico.

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The Four Corners low pressure system is arriving, which is drawing up even more moisture into the region, allowing for more-widespread showers with plenty of lightning, as well as small hail potentially, and even more northern-mountain snow. For most, mostly cloudy skies will ensue and as temperatures will rise, winds will switch more from the south-southwest with even higher intensity, locally blowing some dust with the elevated fire risk to the south. From the morning school commute on into the afternoon, temperatures will eventually reach into the upper 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and low 80s, close to normal for this time of the year.

As the trough of low pressure moves in with even more moisture drawn in from the Pacific Ocean later today, the precipitation will be even heavier, even in the Rio Grande Valley, as temperatures will drop a bit more tonight with stronger southwesterly winds that are likely to blow some dust around in the south-central communities especially with an elevated fire weather risk, while larger hail with damaging winds possibly and even a few tornadoes may form tomorrow in eastern areas.

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