Another Warm & Windy Day.

Setting Moon Over SE NM  7:26 AM MST 11-21-2010.

I have yet to record any measurable precipitation for this month, and this comes on top of October only having received .10" of rainfall here at my home in Carlsbad, NM. It's dry, and getting drier quickly. We really need some rain or snow, but just does look like it is going to happen anytime soon.

As forecast, yesterday was another windy day across SE NM. Guadalupe Pass peaked out at 68 mph, the Bowl Raws just north of Guadalupe Peak 57 mph, the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso reported a peak gust to 54 mph, the Dunken Raws 49 mph, the Tatum MesoNet station 47 mph, the Artesia Airport 43 mph, the Queen Raws 41 mph, and the Caprock Raws 40 mph.

Today looks like another repeat of yesterday across the area, warm and windy. Southwesterly winds are once again forecast to gust up to around 40 mph across the lower elevations. A High Wind Warning remains in effect for the Guadalupe Mountains. Southwesterly winds are forecast to gust up to near 70 mph today. A Wind Advisory is in effect for the Sacramento Mountains where southwesterly winds are forecast to gust up to near 50 mph.

A dry Pacific cold front will sweep eastward across the state today, but will have little effect on our temperatures here in SE NM. We will see highs today in the low-upper 70's. Tomorrow should be a little cooler with highs in the upper 60's to low 70's. Wednesday will be warm with highs in the 70's.

A great deal of uncertainty still remains concerning the arrival of an arctic cold front sometime Wednesday night, or on Thanksgiving Day. As is usually the case with arctic outbreaks, the models have a poor handle on the timing and strength of this bitterly cold airmass poised to dive south into the area.  

We could see high temperatures on Thanksgiving range from 40-65 across SE NM. Friday morning looks like the coldest morning of the season, with low temperatures diving down into the teens. A few single digit readings could even be possible in some of the normally colder spots. There isn't much hope of any precipitation falling over the area this week, it may be a chilly Thanksgiving this year, but it will be a dry one.

The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction!