Record heat then record rain, snowfall in the same week? What's next for ABQ forecast

El Niño outlook for New Mexico's winter

New Mexicans can expect a wetter winter with higher chances of rain and snow.

The weather in Albuquerque has fluctuated quite a bit this past week.

On Tuesday the city experienced record-breaking heat reaching a high of 76 degrees, beating the previous record from 1980 of 74 degrees, according to a social media post from the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

Then Wednesday, a cold front brought a drop in temperatures, and by Friday the moisture accumulation had turned to rain and snow mixture throughout much of Albuquerque and the surrounding area.

The Metro area saw a new record for precipitation and snowfall Friday, .28 inches of rain — the previous record was .16 inches set in 1982 — and .3 inches of snow, which beat the previous record of only trace amounts back in 1946.

Though the snow did not stick in the Metro area, higher elevations did see some snow piles.

Sandia Park recorded 3.8 inches of snow, according to Annette Mokry, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

Mokry reported 1.2 inches near Ponderosa, 1.5 inches near Sedillo, almost 2 inches in Tijeras, Edgewood and Estancia had 1–2 inches, 3 inches west of Mountainair and 3.5 inches in San Antonito.

Morky said residents can expect a 10-degree warm-up over Friday's high by Saturday, which is still five degrees below normal for this time of year.

Then by Sunday will warm up another five degrees, “and that would put us pretty close to normal,” Morky said.

“We can expect temperatures right around normal for mid-November, and then Wednesday looks like it may see a bump up in high temperatures, and then after that there is some uncertainty as to what's going to happen.”

Snow pictures

If you have snow pictures to share, email them to etucker@abqjournal.com, and they will be added to the gallery.