White Christmas unlikely, but snow chances are rising
Albuquerque may not be in for a white Christmas, but there’s a good chance for snow the day after Christmas, according to Chuck Jones, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Albuquerque office.
“For the Albuquerque area, snow could develop Thursday night, with temperatures right around freezing or just below,” he said. Temperatures on Friday probably will not get above the mid-40s, “and then back to snow on Friday night, with temperatures from the upper 20s to about 30,” he said. That forecast is predicated on two storms that are heading toward New Mexico, Jones said.
The first one will bring mountain snow and lower-elevation rain statewide.
The best chances for snow will be in western and central New Mexico, with chances for snow
spreading east on Christmas Eve night, he said.
That storm was expected to arrive late Monday into Tuesday and continue into Christmas Eve night, diminishing by Thursday.
“Then, we have our second storm that will come in at the end of the week and bring another really good chance of precipitation to all of New Mexico,” Jones told the Journal. “That one will be a colder system, with snow in higher elevations and probably mostly snow in the lower elevations,” although it will likely be mixed with rain in those lower elevations on Friday.
Temperatures in the Albuquerque area will be low Saturday, with highs in the mid-40s “and with still a decent chance of snow,” Jones said.
Most of the state will have overcast skies for the week, though some eastern areas may have some partly sunny skies, he said.