| 2024 Weather Highlights | The Year in Pictures | Memorable Events | Hydrology & Drought | Fire Weather | Records & Extremes | Monthly Review | Severe Weather |
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Monthly Review of Weather Events Across New Mexico in 2024
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January 2024 started out very active with widespread snowfall, cold temperatures, and gusty winds. Blizzard conditions impacted northeast NM around the 7th with snow drifts up to 4 feet and visibility below one-quarter mile around Union County. An arctic outbreak mid-month plunged much of eastern NM into the freezer with high temperatures in the single digits for two days and subfreezing temperatures for a total of four days. Low temperatures fell below zero as far south as Clovis. Light to moderate winds with these temperatures resulted in wind chills between -15° and -30° across northeast and east-central NM. A tranquil weather pattern returned toward the latter half of the month with above normal temperatures for mid to late January. Rain and snow was reported on a few days later in the month however amounts were relatively light. |
Snow in Tijeras, NM | January 4, 2024 |
| February 2024 | |
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Dust Storm near Midway, NM | February 27, 2024 |
February 2024 was a warmer and wetter than average month for most of the state. The month began seasonably dry and warm, but then a winter storm on the 9th and 10th brought widespread snowfall to the area and the biggest snow of the season to date at Albuquerque and Roswell. A few weaker winter storms around the middle of the month brought beneficial precipitation, but most of it was confined to the high terrain of western and northern New Mexico. A powerful windstorm around the end of the month created a dust storm with near-zero visibility that sadly led to one fatality in Chaves county. The same storm system also brought more snow to the northern mountains. |
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March 2024 was full of winter storms and high wind events. The month began windy and dry with rounds of strong winds in excess of 55 mph throughout eastern NM. Then, there was a transition to wetter weather around the middle of the month. A couple of storms from the 13th through the 17th brought feet of snow to the northern mountains and wind gusts in excess of 65 mph to central and eastern NM where precipitation was mostly in the form of rain. To cap off the active month, two more high wind events created dust storms in the Roswell area on the 24th and 31st . Despite numerous days with critical fire weather conditions throughout the month, fortunately no large fires were started. Monthly precipitation was above average to well-above average across the western half of the state and near to below average across the eastern half of the state. |
Heavy Snow in Pendaries, NM | March 17, 2024 |
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Dust Storm 20 mi South of Roswell, NM | April 1, 2024 |
April 2024 was dry for the vast majority of the area. The exception was along the Caprock where a few storms brought moderate to locally heavy rainfall. There was one notable snowfall event in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that brought around a foot of fresh snow to Taos Ski Valley early in the month. Temperatures were above normal across the north while near to slightly below normal temperatures prevailed across the south and west. April was primarily dominated by several bouts of strong winds and critical fire weather. Wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph were reported on several days. Strong winds and very dry conditions around Roswell resulted in several more blowing dust events on the southwest side of town including points south toward Hagerman. |
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May 2024 featured both severe weather and critical fire weather. The month started out windy with typical strong, dry west winds. By the middle of the month, the pattern shifted more to severe weather and featured rounds of afternoon storms in central and eastern NM, punctuated by a rare tornado in Sandoval County near Jemez Pueblo. Several storms would go on to produce hail as large as baseballs, damaging wind gusts, and a few tornadoes during the last couple weeks of the month. In addition, some of the drier storms produced lightning that started two large wildfires, the Blue 2 fire in the White Mountain Wilderness Area and the Indios Fire in the Chama River Canyon Wilderness. The dry and windy conditions helped these fires rapidly grow during the last week of May. |
Hailstorm in Los Alamos, NM | May 11, 2024 |
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Landspout near Crownpoint, NM | June 14, 2024 |
June 2024 started out hot and dry with several days above 100° in many areas. A few wildfires were also impacting the region with strong winds, low humidity, smoke, and hazy skies. Moisture surged into NM by mid month and weather-whiplash struck the region. Severe hail, tornados, damaging winds, torrential rainfall, and flash flooding occurred on several days during the second half of June. |
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July 2024 was a very active month with regard to flash flooding. Heavy rainfall over the Sacramento Complex of burn scars around Ruidoso prompted the issuance of five Flash Flood Emergencies. Dozens of swift water rescues occurred, but fortunately no fatalities occurred. Numerous instances of flooding occurred elsewhere in the state as well, including the Hermit's Peak - Calf Canyon burn scar and the east-central plains. In addition, lightning from storms sparked additional wildfires in central and western New Mexico during the first half of the month. Despite the active storm pattern and devastating flash flooding, monthly average precipitation was below average during the month of July. Temperatures were above average in most areas, but still remained well-below last year’s record setting heat. |
Flash Flood in Ruidoso, NM | July 9, 2024 |
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Flash Flood near Sapello, NM | August 8, 2024 |
August 2024 was drier than average in most areas, but that didn’t prevent destructive flash flooding from occurring several times in the Ruidoso area from heavy rainfall over the Sacramento complex of burn scars. Flash flooding also occurred over the Hermit's Peak - Calf Canyon burn scar and in other portions of northern NM. There were a couple strong east canyon wind events during August, one of which had winds gusts up to 63 mph in Albuquerque. It was another very hot month that ranked as a top 10 hottest August in Albuquerque, Clayton, and Roswell. |
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September 2024 began stormy and wet, but a pattern change brought much drier and warmer than normal weather for a couple of weeks. There was flooding over the sensitive Sacramento complex of burn scars on the 2nd of the month, but fortunately that would be the last flash flooding event of the monsoon season in Ruidoso. It is not uncommon for tropical systems to impact New Mexico during the month of September and this year was no different. The remnants of Tropical Storm Ileana in the Eastern Pacific were pushed into New Mexico late in the month, sparking an outbreak of storms. Several storms produced damaging wind gusts and large hail and one produced a tornado near Clines Corners. The end of the month was quiet with tranquil and warm weather. Overall, the month was much drier and warmer than average in most areas. |
Tornado near Clines Corners, NM | September 21, 2024 |
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Flood near Dexter, NM | October 20, 2024 |
October 2024 was the hottest October on record for much of the state. The first half of the month was very dry and warm which was perfect for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The weather changed suddenly around the middle of the month as Gulf moisture surged into eastern NM and produced days of stormy weather. While severe weather did occur during this period, the bigger concern was heavy rainfall and flash flooding. On Oct. 19th, the Roswell Industrial Airpark had 5.78” of rain, breaking the all-time daily record rainfall. As a result, historic flash flooding occurred all night, leading to over 300 water rescues and 2 fatalities. Despite the heavy rainfall and flash flooding, a dust storm occurred in Roswell less than 2 weeks later. |
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November 2024 was another wet month, particularly for the eastern half of the state. Several slow-moving fall storms impacted the state at the beginning of the month, resulting in a bunch of cool and wet days. Precipitation was mostly rain in lower elevations, but the mountains were piling up the snow. Then, an extreme winter storm impacted the state between November 7th and November 9th, shutting down both major interstates. Several feet of snow fell in the mountains, while the lower elevations received a few inches, including the Albuquerque area. Several observing stations reported their snowiest November day on record. The end of the month was mostly dry, except for some snow showers in the northern mountains around Thanksgiving. |
Blizzard U.S. 56 Northeast NM | November 7, 2024 |
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December 2024 was a very quiet month with abundant sunshine, well above normal temperatures, very little to no precipitation, and light winds on most days. Nearly the entire southwestern United States and Front Range was precipitation free and nearly the entire country west of the Mississippi River experienced above normal temperatures. In some cases, December was actually warmer than November for parts of NM. The only notable weather events for the month included a day of strong winds gusts near 65 mph around Vaughn on the 8th then a few brief wind gusts near 60 mph over northeast and east-central NM on the 30th. |
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