January saw mostly near normal precipitation across northern and central NM on the whole, resulting in most areas seeing a static state in drought conditions. There were pockets of above normal precipitation focused over the northeastern plains, mainly Colfax and Union Counties, thanks to a blizzard that dumped heavy snow on the region in early January.
Every event with a place to put it; 36 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 saw mostly near normal precipitation across northern and central NM on the whole, resulting in most areas seeing a static state in drought conditions. There were pockets of above normal precipitation focused over the northeastern plains, mainly Colfax and Union Counties, thanks to a blizzard that dumped heavy snow on the region in early January. Areas along the Continental Divide saw near to slightly above normal precipitation in west-central NM which led to a one or two categorical improvement in drought conditions there.
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, 10:32 PM MST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1032 PM MST Sun Dec 31 2023 ...New AVIATION... .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 135 PM MST Sun Dec 31 2023 Calm weather forecast tonight for New Years with seasonable temperatures to start 2024 Monday. A weak winter system slides across areas along and south of I-40 Tuesday bringing light showers. A colder and appreciable winter storm system likely to bring more widespread snow arrives Thursday afternoon, and lasting through most of the day Friday. A fair amount of fresh snow is likely atop the mountain peaks with morning slick winter travel Friday morning most areas. This clears out by Saturday with yet another winter system looking likely by Sunday. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Monday night) Issued at 135 PM MST Sun Dec 31 2023 Low level moisture has increased enough behind a back door cold front on the eastern plains that there will probably be areas of freezing fog and low clouds late tonight until mid morning Monday, mostly from the Caprock southward and as far west as the Pecos River Valley. Farther to the north, weak downslope flow forecast after midnight should inhibit fog and low cloud development. Otherwise, the recent cooling trend should continue on Monday as an approaching low pressure system spreads a broad swath of high and eventually mid clouds over the forecast area. By sunrise Tuesday the upper low should be centered over the southwest quadrant of New Mexico. It will spread scattered to numerous snow showers and lowest elevation rain showers over the southwest quarter of the forecast area late Monday night, but liquid equivalent accumulations look to remain under 0.10" with up to an inch of snow accumulation on the high peaks of the southwest mountains. && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday through Saturday) Issued at 135 PM MST Sun Dec 31 2023 There is not much change from the prior forecast regarding Tuesday's first of 2024 winter system rolling across the southern half of NM. Snow levels are forecast to be in the 4500 to 5500 foot range Tuesday morning allowing for snow to reach valley floors along and south of I-40 near sunrise. These rise to 5500 to 6500 by the afternoon as the center of the low exits into western TX. Little moisture is associated with this system as it fills, so only very light precipitation amounts are forecast. Limited impacts if any will result for Catron County eastward through Socorro, Lincoln, and Chaves Counties. Some precipitation will try to extend northward over the central highlands and southern Sangre de Cristo Mts Tuesday afternoon, but again this will be light in nature with limited impacts. A transient ridge of high pressure brings clear skies Wednesday allowing for a modest rebound in temperatures. Wednesday morning valley inversions promise to be quite pronounced as well. Global model guidance has trended faster with the late week winter storm system arriving into western NM Thursday afternoon. Despite differences with how deterministic numerical models are handling the structure of the H5 low, it promises to be deeper around 545-550dm and colder with H7 temperatures -8C to -10C. Southerly flow ahead of the low will keep areas east of the central mountain chain warmer Thursday, but colder air will already be advancing into western areas from AZ. Snow levels quickly fall to valley floors Thursday night into Friday morning as snow spreads west to east over the forecast area. As mentioned there are considerable differences in deterministic model solutions regarding the structure of this upper low. The GFS is resolving a stretching and split of the low into two centers while the ECMWF holds onto one center with a more northerly track close to the NM/CO border. Considerable uncertainty remains regarding where the best snow accumulations will be as a result, however widespread wetting precipitation is a good bet as a whole over northern and central NM for Thursday night through Friday. Conditions clear out Saturday before the active wave-train off the Pacific brings another system next Sunday into early next week. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1026 PM MST Sun Dec 31 2023 VFR conditions are expected to continue to prevail through the TAF period. A band of high clouds is spreading across the state from west to east this evening well-ahead of a closed low currently off the California coast. Skies will briefly clear out behind this band then begin to increase again tomorrow morning with high ceilings eventually prevailing across the airspace by 00Z tomorrow. There is low confidence (< 20% chance) that patchy low clouds will develop over the Caprock late tonight and early tomorrow with potential impacts to KROW and KTCC. Light mountain snow and lower elevation rain showers will enter the region from the southwest after around 03Z tomorrow. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 135 PM MST Sun Dec 31 2023 Critical fire weather conditions are not expected for the next seven days as humidities stay above 15 percent. A weak upper level low pressure system crossing southern NM from the upper Baja California peninsula will produce rain and snow showers late Monday night and Tuesday with spotty liquid or liquid equivalent accumulations up to a tenth of an inch mostly south of I-40. The southwest mountains may accumulate a few inches of snow above 8500 feet or so. A broader, deeper, and colder upper level low pressure system is forecast to pass more directly over the fire weather forecast area from the west with more widespread rain and snow accumulation Thursday through Friday. The mountains could accumulate a few to several inches of snow with the late week storm, with the potential for wetting precipitation in many lower elevation locations as well. In the absence of a preceeding backdoor cold front, this looks like a westerly upslope flow event. Southwest winds will become gusty across the eastern and southern areas on Thursday afternoon as the storm system begins moving into the state, then north and northwest winds should be gusty most places Monday as the low pressure system gradually shifts east of NM. Until then, widespread poor ventilation is forecast daily, except for pockets of ventilation improvement on Tuesday. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 20 46 23 43 / 0 0 0 0 Dulce........................... 13 47 18 45 / 0 0 0 5 Cuba............................ 18 42 21 41 / 0 0 5 10 Gallup.......................... 13 46 17 45 / 0 0 20 5 El Morro........................ 18 44 21 43 / 0 0 30 30 Grants.......................... 15 45 20 45 / 0 0 10 20 Quemado......................... 18 47 23 41 / 0 0 30 40 Magdalena....................... 25 44 28 43 / 0 0 20 40 Datil........................... 22 43 25 41 / 0 0 20 30 Reserve......................... 15 51 21 47 / 0 0 50 40 Glenwood........................ 29 55 32 50 / 0 0 60 40 Chama........................... 14 40 16 39 / 0 0 0 5 Los Alamos...................... 25 39 27 41 / 0 0 0 10 Pecos........................... 23 45 26 43 / 0 0 0 20 Cerro/Questa.................... 20 38 20 37 / 0 0 0 10 Red River....................... 11 38 14 34 / 0 0 0 10 Angel Fire...................... 2 37 8 36 / 0 0 0 10 Taos............................ 12 41 16 40 / 0 0 0 10 Mora............................ 17 47 22 41 / 0 0 0 10 Espanola........................ 19 47 23 46 / 0 0 0 10 Santa Fe........................ 25 42 27 42 / 0 0 0 20 Santa Fe Airport................ 23 44 26 44 / 0 0 0 20 Albuquerque Foothills........... 30 47 32 46 / 0 0 10 30 Albuquerque Heights............. 26 47 30 47 / 0 0 10 20 Albuquerque Valley.............. 24 48 29 49 / 0 0 10 20 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 25 47 29 48 / 0 0 5 20 Belen........................... 19 47 27 49 / 0 0 10 30 Bernalillo...................... 25 48 29 48 / 0 0 5 20 Bosque Farms.................... 20 47 27 49 / 0 0 10 30 Corrales........................ 25 48 29 48 / 0 0 5 20 Los Lunas....................... 20 47 27 49 / 0 0 10 30 Placitas........................ 28 44 30 45 / 0 0 10 30 Rio Rancho...................... 26 47 30 47 / 0 0 5 20 Socorro......................... 26 49 31 49 / 0 0 10 30 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 27 42 29 42 / 0 0 10 30 Tijeras......................... 27 44 29 44 / 0 0 20 30 Edgewood........................ 22 45 26 44 / 0 0 5 30 Moriarty/Estancia............... 15 46 20 45 / 0 0 5 30 Clines Corners.................. 21 44 25 41 / 0 0 0 30 Mountainair..................... 23 45 27 43 / 0 0 5 40 Gran Quivira.................... 23 46 27 43 / 0 0 10 40 Carrizozo....................... 28 51 33 45 / 0 0 10 50 Ruidoso......................... 25 49 28 40 / 0 0 10 40 Capulin......................... 18 46 24 39 / 0 0 0 0 Raton........................... 17 46 23 44 / 0 0 0 5 Springer........................ 15 47 22 47 / 0 0 0 10 Las Vegas....................... 19 47 24 43 / 0 0 0 10 Clayton......................... 23 47 29 45 / 0 0 0 0 Roy............................. 20 44 26 46 / 0 0 0 10 Conchas......................... 22 49 28 48 / 0 0 0 20 Santa Rosa...................... 23 47 27 44 / 0 0 0 20 Tucumcari....................... 20 49 28 47 / 0 0 0 20 Clovis.......................... 23 49 29 45 / 0 0 0 20 Portales........................ 20 51 28 46 / 0 0 0 20 Fort Sumner..................... 22 45 27 44 / 0 0 0 20 Roswell......................... 27 49 31 46 / 0 0 0 30 Picacho......................... 26 51 29 46 / 0 0 0 30 Elk............................. 24 56 28 45 / 0 0 0 30 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SHORT TERM...44 LONG TERM....24 AVIATION...16
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
36 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the zone.
Severe drought conditions were removed from the zone due to beneficial winter precipitation during the month.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the zone, despite receiving near normal precipitation.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the zone. The southern half of the zone did see an improvement from extreme drought to severe drought.
Severe drought was removed from the central swath of the zone thanks to beneficial moisture from several winter storms, while remaining persistent across the northern fourth of the zone.
Severe drought remained persistent across the northern third of the zone.
Severe drought remained persistent across a majority of the zone.
Severe drought remained persistent across the entire zone.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the zone.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the zone.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the zone.
Severe drought conditions persisted across the zone.
Severe drought conditions persisted across the zone.
Severe drought conditions persisted across the southern half of the zone.
Severe drought conditions persisted across the zone.
Severe drought conditions persisted across the zone.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the zone.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the northern half of the zone.
Severe drought conditions persisted across the southern portion of the zone.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the northern portion of the zone.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the northern half of the zone.
Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the northern half of the zone.
Near to above normal precipitation allowed for severe drought to be removed from nearly all of the zone.
Severe to extreme drought remained persistent across the southern two-thirds of the zone.
Severe drought persisted across the southern quarter of the zone.
Severe drought persisted across the zone with extreme drought persistent over the far southwestern portion of the zone.
Severe drought persisted across the zone.
Severe drought persisted across the zone.
Severe drought persisted across the zone.
Severe drought improved across the eastern half of the zone, remaining persistent over the western half of the zone.
Severe drought persisted across the western half of the zone.
Severe drought persisted across the eastern third of the zone.
Severe to extreme drought persisted across the zone with exceptional drought persisting over the south-central portion of the zone.
Severe to extreme drought persisted across the southern half of the zone.
Extreme drought persisted across the zone with a sliver of exceptional drought persisting over the far southeastern fringe of the zone.
Severe drought persisted over the southern portion of the zone.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, January 2024
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: 1150934, 1150935, 1150937, 1150938, 1150940, 1150944, 1150945, 1150946, 1150947, 1150948, 1150949, 1150950, 1150951, 1150952, 1150953, 1150955, 1150956, 1150957, 1150958, 1150959, 1150960, 1150961, 1150962, 1150963, 1150964, 1150965, 1150971, 1150972, 1150973, 1150974, 1150976, 1150977, 1150978, 1150979, 1150980, 1150981.