New Mexico braces for Artic blast, lowest temperatures in years

An Arctic blast will sweep across the nation this weekend, bringing frigid winds from the north pole and plunging many locales, including New Mexico, into the lowest temperatures felt in years.

Those living on Albuquerque’s streets who have been dealing with the cold are now bracing for the deep freeze.

“I said, ‘You know what? I’m not gonna sit in our camp all night and freeze,’” Samantha Etherton said. “Let’s just walk around all night, and that’s what we did.”

Married for 14 years, Samantha and her husband, Benjamin Etherton, who have been homeless for two years, spent all night Thursday walking the streets near Central to warm up.

Come Sunday, temperatures are expected to hover just above freezing in Albuquerque and drop to as low as 14 degrees Tuesday night.

Northern New Mexicans should brace for the lowest temperatures. On Tuesday in Angel Fire, it’s forecast to be as cold as 18 degrees during the day and -24 at night. Conditions will also drop below zero at night in Taos, Chama, Farmington, Clayton and Raton over the weekend and early next week.

Temperatures dropping this low in parts of New Mexico is “not extremely common,” according to National Weather Service meteorologist Carter Greulich. New Mexico hasn’t been this cold since 2021, Greulich said, and if the Weather Service’s lowest estimates are realized, this coming week may be the coldest in a decade.

Even political leaders are hurrying to get out of the cold. President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that his inauguration ceremony will move indoors to the Capitol Rotunda due to temperatures expected to be in the low 20s.

But not everyone can easily move inside. For the Ethertons, they’d rather brave the cold than the shelters.

“It’s crazy, because everyone’s like, ‘Go to the shelter. It’s not that bad,’” Samantha Etherton said. “I tried Joy Junction, and I’m a claustrophobic person, (I don’t like) to be around a lot of people. I freaked out.

Sanitation and safety is his primary concern for Benjamin Etherton.

“I really don’t approve of the shelters we’ve been to so far,” he said. “And then, of course, stuff got stolen from us (there).”

As of Friday, several city shelters were near or over capacity, according to a shelter bed tracker. There are a total of 1,284 beds in shelters across Albuquerque, 147 of which were available. For scale, the city estimates there are 5,000 people experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque.

No one will be turned away if shelters reach capacity, city spokesperson Staci Drangmeister said. The city will add emergency beds to Gateway West and Center if needed, she said, and in an extreme situation, the city is prepared to open up community centers to those in need.

“There really is an underlying commitment to anyone that says — either when we’re asking them or they’re reaching out to us — ‘I want to get inside and get into a warm place,’” Drangmeister said. “The answer from the city is, ‘Yes, we’ll help you get there.’”

Albuquerque Community Safety offers rides to city shelters, even late at night, to anyone who calls (505) 418-6178, or an emergency number, looking for a place to escape the cold. Since ACS began its emergency overnight transportation service in November, which runs from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., it has driven 1,599 people to city shelters.

On Friday morning, people lined up for hot beverages and sandwiches at Francis House Catholic Worker in the International District. Volunteer Jackie Garfield sorted donations of shoes and warm clothing. Despite the available resources, Garfield said, the fact that people are avoiding shelters speaks to a greater dysfunction in the shelter system.

“Gateway is around the corner and yet everyone’s here,” Garfield said. “Something’s wrong. Something’s very wrong.”

Journal staff writer Noah Alcala Bach contributed to this report.