2018 Annual Weather Highlights ABQ Temperature/Precipitation

ALBUQUERQUE

TEMPERATURES

The 2018 year in Albuquerque was much warmer than normal, which has been the norm in the 21st century. The average temperature was 59.1 degrees, tied for the 7th warmest year since complete records began in 1893! Since 2000, 16 years have ranked in the top 25 warmest years on record!

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The average temperature for Albuquerque in 2018 was 59.1 degrees. This was 1.9 degrees above the 30-year normal (1981-2010) of 57.2 degrees. The long term annual normal (1893 to current) temperature was 56.6 degrees. 2018 was the 7th warmest year on record in Albuquerque, going back to 1893, or 126 years!

Monthly temperatures for the Albuquerque Sunport in 2018 are illustrated in the charts below, with monthly average temperatures for Albuquerque in red, and both long term (purple) and 30-year (blue) normals in the top graph, with departures shown in the bottom graph.

The first nine months of 2018 experienced above normal temperatures as well as December, while only October and November were below normal. The year began with January through March being 2 or more degrees above normal. Not to be outdone April through June were 4 or more degrees above normal, and all were in the top 10 warmest months on record. July through September were between 1 and 3 degrees above normal.

The average maximum temperature for Albuquerque in 2018 was 71.7°F (+2.9 degrees above normal), while the average minimum temperature for the year was 46.5°F (+1.0 degrees above normal). Thus, the maximum temperatures in 2018 were more of a contributor to the warmer than normal average temperatures than the minimum temperatures.

PRECIPITATION

Precipitation in Albuquerque for 2018 was below normal, like many recent years have been. In the past decade, only 2015 recorded above normal precipitation. The graph below displays the actual daily precipitation (green line below) for 2018.

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Total precipitation in 2018 was 8.72 inches, while the official 30-year normal (1981-2010) is 9.45 inches. This was a deficit of 0.73 inches. It was another drier than normal year, with only 2015 wetter than normal in Albuquerque since 2007. The long term annual precipitation (1892 to current) averages 8.56 inches. 2018 was the 71st driest on record since 1892.

The monthly precipitation (orange) is shown below and is compared to the 30-year normal (light green), the long term period of record normal (cyan), and the departures from normal (green or brown).

Eight of the 12 months reported below normal precipitation, while just four months were above: February, June, July and October. April and November received no measurable rain while January, March, May and November had less than 0.20 inches of precipitation.

SNOWFALL

The Albuquerque Sunport (green line below) measured just 3.7 inches of snow in calendar year 2018. The 30-year normal (1981-2010) is 9.6 inches while the long term normal (1892-current) is 9.7 inches.

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The table below shows the snowfall for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons so far, which officially run from July through June. The 2017-2018 total was just 0.4 inches while the current 2018-2019 season has recorded 3.3 inches of snow so far.

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