After prolonged heat, cooler weather arrives in New Mexico

Oct. 15—After weeks of endless summer throughout the state, New Mexico checked its calendar and realized it is fall, time to pull out the sweaters and scarves.

A cold front was "draped across" Eastern New Mexico on Monday afternoon, and Las Vegas, Moriarty and Raton could see their first freeze of the season overnight, according to a National Weather Service briefing Tuesday.

Monday's high was close to 80 degrees in Albuquerque, and Roswell's was approaching 90, but "that's going to change quickly," said weather service meteorologist Brian Guyer.

"We're going from record heat to a strong storm system for October," Guyer said. "That's going to be fairly dramatic in terms of its impacts on New Mexico."

The cold front was expected to shift west and surge across the mountains.

As the hot air dissipates, showers and thunderstorms will arrive near the Continental Divide, bringing temperatures that are between 10 to 20 degrees cooler than Tuesday's readings.

Dry weather so far this October is also coming to an end as a slow moving system brings moisture in from Texas and Northern Mexico, increasing chances of precipitation.

"Not everyone's going to get rainfall, but the chances are looking good, especially for Eastern and Northern New Mexico," Guyer said.

Guyer's recommendation? Take advantage of the remaining pleasant weather to prepare for high winds and rain to come.

He said before the weekend, New Mexicans should get their swamp coolers, windows, doors and vehicles ready for colder weather, including extreme weather events like thunderstorms, hail and strong winds.