A strong, fall storm system will be moving into New Mexico starting Friday. Widespread rain, with locally heavy rainfall, and mountain snow will continue through the weekend.
A strong, fall storm system will begin moving into New Mexico by Friday afternoon. Gusty south, southwest winds will develop from southwest New Mexico up to Santa Fe, with gusts up to 45 mph. Strong to severe storms are likely in northeast New Mexico by the afternoon. Meanwhile, the strong cold front associated with the storm system will begin moving into western New Mexico and southwest Colorado by early Friday afternoon. It is along this front that the heaviest rain and mountain snow will fall. The front will move east into the Rio Grande Valley by late Friday evening, bringing briefly heavy rainfall and storms, along with briefly heavy mountain snow. It will continue to march eastward overnight into Saturday morning, bringing heavy rainfall in eastern parts of the state.
Through the day Saturday, scattered showers and storms will continue, mainly across northern and eastern New Mexico. In the morning, some light snow will be possible all the way down to I-40 in western parts of New Mexico. Snow will continue to fall above 9,000′ in the northern mountains and the mountains in southern Colorado. There is increasing confidence that strong to severe storms are likely Saturday afternoon in eastern New Mexico. These storms will bring heavy rainfall and gusty winds, and could produce hail and even a couple isolated tornadoes…