Author Topic: One thing about New Mexico...  (Read 204234 times)

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Offline Farmtalk

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #100 on: December 06, 2010, 10:25:21 AM »
What is the elevation of Portales, NM??? I figure it would get pretty cold there if the elevation were above 3000ft.... :?

We've recieved snow since Saturday, and are expecting snow through Wednesday... 
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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #101 on: December 06, 2010, 04:56:30 PM »
What is the elevation of Portales, NM??? I figure it would get pretty cold there if the elevation were above 3000ft.... :?

We've recieved snow since Saturday, and are expecting snow through Wednesday...  

Portales, NM
Elevation: 4021 feet.

In New Mexico (and other places in the Southwest), "pretty cold" only happens if we get a powerful arctic front (which we have twice in the last three weeks), or if one is living in the ski towns (such as Chama, Taos, Durango etc.). Since about, oh, at least 80 to 90% of New Mexico is desert and mountains, guess what happens when cold moist air descends a mountain slope? It dries out, warms up. This turns the high plains dry in the winter, as well as warm before a strong storm event (usually). The desert is about the same way- except it's always dry. The winters suck- it's always cold, always windy.

Rio Rancho, NM
Elevation: 5292-5500 feet.

Albuquerque, NM
Elevation: 4999-6100 feet.

Santa Fe, NM
Elevation: 6996-8200 feet.

Those last three locales and their elevation depends on if you're in the valley floor or in the heights/higher terrain of the area. Rio Rancho (where I'm originally from) sits on the northwest hilly section of the Rio Grande Valley rift. Albuquerque sits right in the middle of the rift zone from the Sandia (Watermelon in Spanish) Heights to the Petroglyphs (west). Santa Fe sits to the northern edge of the rift. It too has heights, expensive homes sit way up on the mountains of the Sangre de Christo range (Blood of Christ in Spanish). Santa Fe sees several inches more snow per year than the Albuquerque area does.

One thing about New Mexico? When it does snow, it sure does look purty!

Sandia Crest, elevation 10,678 feet, view from the NW


Okay, I'm done with the lecture. Didja learn something?  :-P 8-)
« Last Edit: December 06, 2010, 05:04:05 PM by Chris H. »
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Offline SlowModem

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #102 on: December 06, 2010, 05:05:02 PM »
Okay, I'm done with the lecture. Didja learn something?  :-P 8-)

Yep.  That's nice to know.  We've decided that if we ever hit the lottery, one of the places we've decided to look at moving to is NM.  However, where we want to move is in the Tucumcari / Logan area.
Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #103 on: December 06, 2010, 05:06:25 PM »
Okay, I'm done with the lecture. Didja learn something?  :-P 8-)

Yep.  That's nice to know.  We've decided that if we ever hit the lottery, one of the places we've decided to look at moving to is NM.  However, where we want to move is in the Tucumcari / Logan area.

That's about 70 some-odd miles north of Portales. Why Tucumcari of all places?
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Offline SlowModem

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #104 on: December 06, 2010, 05:20:27 PM »

That's about 70 some-odd miles north of Portales. Why Tucumcari of all places?

We drove up through there once, and we thought it was scenic, with lots of room.
Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #105 on: December 06, 2010, 07:43:26 PM »

That's about 70 some-odd miles north of Portales. Why Tucumcari of all places?

We drove up through there once, and we thought it was scenic, with lots of room.


Did you pass through Albuquerque? Have you seen other parts of the state?
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Offline SlowModem

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #106 on: December 06, 2010, 08:09:17 PM »
Did you pass through Albuquerque? Have you seen other parts of the state?

At the time we were going NJ to CA and back quite a bit.  We saw NM and AZ, but mostly from I-40 and some I-10.
Greg Whitehead
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Offline Cienega32

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #107 on: December 07, 2010, 02:44:25 PM »
That's partly how I ended up in Las Cruces - the view coming in on I-10 eastbound. It just stuck with me. Northern NM is beautiful, IMHO, but too much snow/cold for me.

As far as elev - I'm at 4,474 feet in the furthest northeast corner of "city limits" with the mountains to my east and the Rio Grande river valley to my west

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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #108 on: December 08, 2010, 02:24:47 PM »
That's partly how I ended up in Las Cruces - the view coming in on I-10 eastbound. It just stuck with me. Northern NM is beautiful, IMHO, but too much snow/cold for me.

As far as elev - I'm at 4,474 feet in the furthest northeast corner of "city limits" with the mountains to my east and the Rio Grande river valley to my west

Kinda how my parents ended up in Albuquerque. They kept driving north out of El Paso. I think the Sandia Mountains kinda had something to do with their staying there in Rio Rancho back when the main drag through town was a two lane road called NM 528 (until 1995, 1998 and 2000/2001 I think), with two branching secondary roads- Southern Blvd. (2-lane up until 1990) and Northern Blvd. (2-lane up until 1997-2003).

Okay I've said too much.  #-o :-)
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Offline Cienega32

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #109 on: December 08, 2010, 03:10:54 PM »
I've only been up there twice. Once in the mid-70s on a road trip from NY to Denver, bringing me down I-25 to I-40 and the last time in 1981 moving from NY to NV. That whole stretch of I-40 thru NM and AZ is amazing (as far as scenery).

On a weather note - both trips thru Raton Pass (July & Sept, respectively) provided the most spectacular lightning storms that I've ever seen!

Decades ago, Rio Rancho was one of those infomercial type of places for New Yorkers. "Tired of all that snow and frigid winters? Enjoy your own piece of the Land of Enchantment" type of stuff. Who knew...  :lol:

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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #110 on: December 09, 2010, 02:31:38 AM »

Decades ago, Rio Rancho was one of those infomercial type of places for New Yorkers. "Tired of all that snow and frigid winters? Enjoy your own piece of the Land of Enchantment" type of stuff. Who knew...  :lol:

Funny…it's cold and it snows in the winter. Shoulda gone further south.  :lol: #-o
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Offline Cienega32

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #111 on: December 10, 2010, 10:54:37 PM »
Funny…it's cold and it snows in the winter. Shoulda gone further south.  :lol: #-o

Certainly not like back there in NY and plus more wide open space, mountains etc. A mild alternative to Florida  :roll: Haha!


Ahh, December in the desert. The 1st saw my 2nd lowest ever Dec temp [station] and the low for this year at 17.5* .

Today? 72* making today my warmest ever December daily temp recorded by the station.

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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #112 on: December 15, 2010, 01:12:42 PM »
If the Nat'l Weather Svc. predicts it'll rain with a low of 27 for the Albuquerque area, is there a chance there will be a thermal inversion layer between the clouds and the ground? Just got me thinking…

Or is it that the clouds above are trapping heat, so it technically won't drop below 32, but it's predicted it will?
« Last Edit: December 15, 2010, 01:14:21 PM by Chris H. »
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Offline SlowModem

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #113 on: December 15, 2010, 02:16:47 PM »
If the Nat'l Weather Svc. predicts it'll rain with a low of 27 for the Albuquerque area, is there a chance there will be a thermal inversion layer between the clouds and the ground? Just got me thinking…

Or is it that the clouds above are trapping heat, so it technically won't drop below 32, but it's predicted it will?

Might be a warm layer next to the ground.

We have just the opposite - rain falling through a cold layer of air next to the ground:

Tonight: A chance of rain and sleet before 7pm, then a chance of snow, freezing rain, and sleet between 7pm and 10pm, then freezing rain and sleet after 10pm. Low around 30. South wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New ice accumulation of less than a 0.1 of an inch possible. New snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

Offline Cienega32

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #114 on: December 15, 2010, 02:36:49 PM »
I almost feel guilty (almost!) with my day's low of 45* and 67* at Noon and rising...

Rain should appear Thursday nite/Friday morn.

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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #115 on: December 16, 2010, 02:38:12 PM »
If only I lived north of Albuquerque. Snow is falling, I-25 is a huge mess. So is I-40 east of Albuquerque. I wish it would snow here. Might tonight, despite the NWS prediction of rain. 9 days away from Christmas and it's raining.  #-o ](*,) What is this, Florida?
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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #116 on: December 16, 2010, 11:45:56 PM »
So the latest:

1:30: Starts to snow.

2:30: Starts to stick.

4:30: Around 1", getting colder.

6:00: Around 1.5", 33F

8:30-9:00: 3", 32F, streets are scary. (Thankfully we have an AWD Ford Explorer)

Right now: 30F, can't compete with the 2" snow flakes turning a just shoveled area white again. So I went inside. There's a good chance there'll be about…oh, 5"-7" in the morning. Last time I saw snow like this was in 2006. We saw 13" the day after Christmas. Snow came a day too late.  #-o

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
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Offline Cienega32

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #117 on: December 17, 2010, 01:04:10 AM »
My latest at 11PM:

54 degrees and no rain.

Temp has fallen 1.3 degrees over the last hour thanks to the cloud cover that's preceding the predicted rain showers. Only a few inches of snow forecasted for the mountains and "maybe" a tenth of rain locally. Looks like about a 1AM arrival.

I think my area might see closer to 0.25" but one fact remains: Other than 6 or 7 drops on a window 3 or 4 times - NO RAIN IN 56 DAYS.


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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #118 on: December 17, 2010, 01:53:57 AM »
Well..one look at the radar and I see it's pretty much ended here…for now. I didn't think it would snow this much...
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Offline Cienega32

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #119 on: December 17, 2010, 02:58:18 AM »
Looks like my 1AM shot went north of me  :-|

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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #120 on: December 17, 2010, 12:18:22 PM »
Looks like my 1AM shot went north of me  :-|

Did you get anything at all?

We totalled 7" of snow at my house…friends of mine who live about two miles north of me saw roughly 12". Albuquerque Heights saw 13". Areas near Santa Fe saw about the same as the Heights.

How does the song go? "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas…everywhere you go…"
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Offline Cienega32

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #121 on: December 17, 2010, 03:58:49 PM »
Not a drop. Not even any snow on the mountain tops running north of me. They usually get dusted first if nothing rolls over the Organs.

It's been breezy lately and I don't even see any stray droplet traces on the windows.

The Interstates north and east of you look a bit messy!

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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #122 on: December 17, 2010, 04:12:47 PM »
Not a drop. Not even any snow on the mountain tops running north of me. They usually get dusted first if nothing rolls over the Organs.

It's been breezy lately and I don't even see any stray droplet traces on the windows.

The Interstates north and east of you look a bit messy!

Well..it has been known to snow 33" in the El Paso and Las Cruces areas…who's to say it won't happen this year?


The interstates are a b**ch according to some friends of mine (and my Dad). Thing is, especially around here, the snow melt will refreeze tonight and there will be ICE.

Dear Nature, PLEASE SNOW AGAIN before or around (or on) Christmas.
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Offline Cienega32

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #123 on: December 17, 2010, 05:12:09 PM »
There's nothing worse than an ice covered road with a layer of snow on it.

As for me - I haven't owned snow tires in 30 years...

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Offline Chris H.

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Re: One thing about New Mexico...
« Reply #124 on: December 18, 2010, 09:38:30 AM »
Still white. Still threatening snow until at least Monday. I think we'll see a muddy-white Christmas, i.e. partial melt with mud. At least it's something.
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