Colder Today & Saturday - Light To Moderate Snowfall In The Mountains.

NAM 3 KM 500 MB (18,000') Analysis.

Valid At 5 AM MST Friday Morning.

NAM 3 KM 500 MB (18,000') Forecast.

Valid At 3 PM MST Saturday.

Water Vapor Satellite Image.

Valid At 7:16 AM MST Friday Morning.

Strong But Moisture Starved Winter Storm Headed To New Mexico.

Mid and upper-level dynamics associated with our approaching closed low are still impressive this morning. Unfortunately, this storm lacks deep low-mid level moisture to work with therefore snowfall totals will be lower than could be. This system is forecast to crawl across Central New Mexico today into tonight then lift northeastward into the Texas Panhandle Saturday afternoon. 

U.S. Temperatures.

At 8 AM MST Friday Morning.

New Mexico Temperatures.

Valid At 8:30 AM MST Friday Morning.

Colder Today With Snow Developing From West To East Across New Mexico.

Colder air overspread the state overnight behind yesterday afternoon and evening's cold front. It's a tad chilly across the Land of Enchantment this morning. Highs today in SE NM will be in the upper 40's to the mid 50's. Highs on Saturday will be in the 40's with some spots near 50.

Note the purple shaded areas on the temperature map above denote Winter Weather Advisories which are now in effect from this morning through Saturday morning. Locally in the Ruidoso area, new snowfall totals are currently (as of 8 AM MST Friday) to be in the 1" to 3" range by Saturday morning. 

NWS NDFD Forecast High Temperatures.

Today.

Saturday.

Sunday.

NWS NDFD Snowfall Forecast Totals.

Valid Today Through 5 AM MST Monday.

NWS NDFD Rainfall Forecast Totals.

Valid Today Through 5 AM MST Monday.

Light rain and snow showers are forecast to increase in aerial coverage across western and northern New Mexico today and spread eastward and southward. Current forecasts indicate that a couple of inches of snow will accumulate in the Ruidoso and Cloudcroft areas by Saturday evening. The higher peaks of the Sacramento and Capitan Mountains could pick up 3" to 6" of fresh snow. This is good news for Ski Cloudcroft and Ski Apache both of which hope to open soon. Ski Apache is scheduled to open on December 17th. 

Light rain may change over to light snow tonight and continue into Saturday morning in the Clovis, Portales, and Roswell areas. Current thinking is that accumulations will be less than one inch. We could see a few light rain showers and snow showers tonight into Saturday morning but no significant accumulations are currently forecast (as of 8 AM MST Friday). 

The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction!