It was a very cold start to the morning for those in eastern New Mexico. These frigid temperatures are on their way out over the weekend.
Arctic air has been firmly in place over eastern New Mexico for the past few days. This has led to record and near-record breaking cold temperatures across the eastern parts of the state. Eastern New Mexico saw low temperatures this morning in the single digits and low teens. This afternoon they may struggle to reach above freezing. However, the rest of the state is largely unaffected by this arctic air. High temperatures are forecasted to be in the 50s-60s across most of central and western New Mexico.
An upper level disturbance will be moving over New Mexico. This disturbance will be marginally cooling off temperatures for central and western New Mexico. However, temperatures across eastern New Mexico will be upwards of 10 degrees warmer as the arctic air moves away from the state. This upper level disturbance will also bring chances for light precipitation across northern and central New Mexico. The wintry precipitation will begin tonight for southern Colorado and the northern mountains. On Friday, snowfall is expected to continue for southern Colorado and the northern mountains. Rain is forecasted for the valleys. This rain could reach as far south as the east mountains.
A ridge of high pressure will build over New Mexico starting Saturday. This high pressure will bring a rapid warm up of temperatures Saturday afternoon. The warming trend will continue all the way into early next week. High temperatures are forecasted to hit the 70s in central New Mexico and the 80s in southern New Mexico. This ridge of high pressure also comes with dry air and locally breezy winds through early next week.