January 2023 was wetter than normal across a good portion of western NM, whereas drier than normal to record low precipitation was observed across a large swath of the eastern plains. Very little change in drought conditions resulted from this.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.
January 2023 was wetter than normal across a good portion of western NM, whereas drier than normal to record low precipitation was observed across a large swath of the eastern plains. Very little change in drought conditions resulted from this. By months end, roughly 18 percent of the state was in severe to extreme drought, of which about 3 percent was extreme drought.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Albuquerque, NM wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 31, 10:11 PM MST, 1 hour 49 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1011 PM MST Sat Dec 31 2022 ...New AVIATION... .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 310 PM MST Sat Dec 31 2022 Windy conditions along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and central highlands will continue to diminish this afternoon. A winter storm will bring heavy mountain snow, valley rain/snow, and wind to western and central New Mexico Sunday and Monday. Additional mountain snow showers are possible in western and central New Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday. Temperatures will be below average statewide Monday through Wednesday. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Monday night) Issued at 310 PM MST Sat Dec 31 2022 Area of low clouds over large portions of northwest NM is forecast to begin breaking up this evening and overnight as the flow aloft slowly transitions to westerly and then southwesterly overnight. This transition comes ahead an upper-level trough and Atmospheric River (AR) moving ashore over central and southern CA. Weather prediction model trend is slightly weaker with this system with the lack of diabatic heating out ahead of the surface cold front for Sunday. This heating typically acts to strengthen the lift over the cold frontal boundary but is lacking with this particular system because of the orientation (southwest to northeast) of the low in the EPAC. Plenty of moisture should help make up some for the lack of initial lift during the day Sunday with the main swath of precipitation moving into western NM during the late morning and early afternoon as the low closes off near Las Vegas, NV. Main precipitation band shifts eastward into the RGV during the late afternoon and early evening hours before it falls apart as downsloping wins out as it moves onto the plains. Issued winter weather advisories for most mountain zones as well as the northwest highlands zone from Sunday morning through Monday evening. Wrap around orographic snows will likely continue along the west slopes of most north to south oriented mountain ranges late Sunday night into Monday as the low takes its time lifting northeastward into northeast WY. && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday through Friday) Issued at 310 PM MST Sat Dec 31 2022 Moist westerly flow combined with weak forcing from an approaching shortwave will help snow showers continue in the northern mountains late Monday through early Tuesday. Guidance still disagrees on the strength of this wave, but it is trending towards more widespread precipitation throughout western and central New Mexico. Cloud cover will help keep daytime high temperatures around 5 degrees below average statewide on Tuesday so snow will be the dominant precipitation type for all locations. Snow ratios will also be much higher than with the Sunday/Monday storm so the highest elevations of the northern mountains may be able to squeak out several more inches of snow. Winds don't look like they will pick-up too much on Wednesday, but can't rule out a few areas of blowing snow along the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Wednesday and Thursday look to be relatively quiet, with mostly clear skies and temperatures a few degrees below average for most of the state. A weak shortwave may graze northern New Mexico on Friday, potentially bringing light precipitation to the northwest corner of the state and an uptick in winds in the northeast highlands. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1007 PM MST Sat Dec 31 2022 Wly winds occasionally gusting to around 45kt along the central mt chain and into the ern plains to continue. Mts occasionally obscured in areas mainly MVFR cigs wrn and central NM with lcl rain and snow showers and br mainly nw and north central NM briefly lowering cigs/vsbys. Bkn high clouds over the ern plains. Precipitation with lowering snow levels and mt obscurations associated with incoming upper low becoming more widespread along the Contdvd wwd aft 18Z and moving into central NM around 21Z. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 310 PM MST Sat Dec 31 2022 Mid winter conditions are in place for western and central NM. While breezy to locally windy conditions will persist in eastern NM at times through the next week, the atmosphere is not forecast to be conducive for large wildfire growth in fine fuels/grasses. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 35 49 28 39 / 10 70 80 60 Dulce........................... 28 46 20 37 / 30 80 90 70 Cuba............................ 29 44 22 34 / 0 70 90 50 Gallup.......................... 32 47 21 34 / 0 60 80 50 El Morro........................ 30 45 22 32 / 0 60 80 50 Grants.......................... 27 49 21 37 / 0 60 80 40 Quemado......................... 31 48 23 35 / 0 80 80 40 Magdalena....................... 37 52 28 41 / 0 40 80 20 Datil........................... 33 47 23 34 / 0 70 80 20 Reserve......................... 30 49 22 39 / 0 90 90 50 Glenwood........................ 38 52 31 41 / 0 90 100 50 Chama........................... 26 43 19 32 / 30 80 90 70 Los Alamos...................... 33 44 26 34 / 0 60 90 60 Pecos........................... 33 50 24 36 / 0 40 90 40 Cerro/Questa.................... 36 44 24 33 / 0 40 80 50 Red River....................... 26 42 18 28 / 0 40 80 50 Angel Fire...................... 27 44 12 29 / 0 40 90 60 Taos............................ 28 47 22 35 / 0 40 80 50 Mora............................ 33 52 21 37 / 0 30 80 40 Espanola........................ 30 52 27 42 / 0 50 90 60 Santa Fe........................ 33 47 26 35 / 0 50 90 60 Santa Fe Airport................ 29 49 25 39 / 0 50 90 50 Albuquerque Foothills........... 36 50 30 42 / 0 50 90 30 Albuquerque Heights............. 36 51 32 44 / 0 50 80 20 Albuquerque Valley.............. 33 53 27 46 / 0 40 80 20 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 34 52 29 45 / 0 50 90 30 Belen........................... 32 55 27 48 / 0 40 80 20 Bernalillo...................... 34 53 30 45 / 0 50 90 40 Bosque Farms.................... 30 54 26 46 / 0 40 80 20 Corrales........................ 34 53 30 46 / 0 50 90 30 Los Lunas....................... 33 53 27 47 / 0 40 80 20 Placitas........................ 35 48 29 40 / 0 50 90 40 Rio Rancho...................... 34 52 30 44 / 0 50 90 30 Socorro......................... 34 58 29 50 / 0 30 70 10 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 32 45 28 36 / 0 50 90 40 Tijeras......................... 33 48 25 39 / 0 50 90 40 Edgewood........................ 30 50 24 39 / 0 40 90 30 Moriarty/Estancia............... 28 51 22 40 / 0 40 80 30 Clines Corners.................. 32 49 25 37 / 0 20 70 30 Mountainair..................... 32 50 25 40 / 0 30 80 20 Gran Quivira.................... 32 51 27 40 / 0 20 80 20 Carrizozo....................... 36 56 31 43 / 0 10 70 20 Ruidoso......................... 38 51 28 37 / 0 10 60 30 Capulin......................... 33 54 25 42 / 0 0 30 30 Raton........................... 31 57 25 46 / 0 5 40 20 Springer........................ 32 58 24 47 / 0 5 50 20 Las Vegas....................... 38 54 27 41 / 0 10 70 30 Clayton......................... 38 60 33 51 / 0 0 20 20 Roy............................. 36 56 29 47 / 0 0 40 20 Conchas......................... 41 62 35 52 / 0 5 20 10 Santa Rosa...................... 40 59 33 47 / 0 5 30 10 Tucumcari....................... 44 63 36 53 / 0 0 20 10 Clovis.......................... 41 64 37 53 / 0 0 10 10 Portales........................ 41 65 38 55 / 0 0 10 10 Fort Sumner..................... 39 61 35 52 / 0 0 20 10 Roswell......................... 39 67 41 57 / 0 0 20 20 Picacho......................... 39 64 33 48 / 0 0 40 20 Elk............................. 40 62 31 45 / 0 0 50 20 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 8 AM Sunday to 5 PM MST Monday for NMZ202-203-205-206-208>211. Winter Weather Advisory from 11 AM Sunday to 8 PM MST Monday for NMZ213-214-226. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
A small area of severe drought conditions from October 2022 persisted around the Four Corners through January.
Moderate to severe drought conditions persisted across the area through January 2023.
Moderate to severe drought conditions from October 2022 persisted through January 2023.
Severe drought conditions from October 2022 persisted through January over the northern half of the metro area.
Severe drought conditions from October 2022 persisted through January 2023.
Severe drought conditions persisted through January 2023.
Severe to extreme drought conditions from October 2022 continued through January 2023. A very small area of exceptional drought between Clayton and Sedan persisted into January.
Severe drought conditions persisted through January 2023.
Severe drought conditions from October 2022 persisted in the northern section of the county through January 2023.
Severe to extreme drought conditions from October 2022 persisted through January 2023.
Severe to extreme drought conditions from October 2022 persisted through January 2023.
Severe to extreme drought conditions from October 2022 persisted through January 2023.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, January 2023
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1068377, 1068378, 1068379, 1068380, 1068381, 1068382, 1068383, 1068384, 1068385, 1068386, 1068387, 1068388.