Frozen Turkey day expected in some parts of state

Staff and wire reports

Northern parts of the state saw a few inches of snow Monday, but the real cold will blow in with the Thanksgiving turkey.

Temperatures will dive well below normal later in the week, said Ken Wedelski, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, with some areas in New Mexico chilling to below zero as a cold front sweeps in from the northwest.

The cold front should affect most of the state, NWS Meteorologist Brian Guyer said, including eastern New Mexico.

“It’s going to be becoming colder just about everywhere (in New Mexico) for Thanksgiving,” Guyer said, “and Clovis will feel it for sure.”

The real freeze will be Thursday night when temperatures plunge to around 15 degrees in Albuquerque and 10 degrees in Santa Fe. That’s 10 degrees to 12 degrees below normal for this time of year, Wedelski said.

The predicted high for Thanksgiving is 40 degrees in Clovis, and Black Friday shoppers could battle temperatures as low as 14 degrees in the morning.

Areas of the San Juan Mountains near the Colorado border will see lows of around 15 below zero, some 20 to 25 degrees below normal Thursday night. Around Gallup and Grants, temperatures will drop to between 1 or 2 degrees below zero, Wedelski said.

The one positive for Clovis: No snow. But, Guyer said, “Anyone that’s traveling into the higher terrain of Northern New Mexico and southern Colorado will see some snowfall.”

Parts of the San Juan Mountains near Chama received between 6 and 8 inches on Monday. Angel Fire got 6 inches, but most of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains received 2 inches, he said.

Although cold snaps are typical in late November, Wedelski said New Mexico has enjoyed relatively mild dry weather up to now.

“So this may feel a lot worse,” Wedelski said.