Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
The weather is getting weird this week as eastern New Mexico goes from a high of 93 degrees on Monday to a cool 40 degrees on Wednesday, then back in the high 70s on Saturday. With fall still two weeks away, what's causing this drastic change?
Blame Canada.
The Albuquerque office of the National Weather Service described a "clipper system," or a fast-moving low-pressure area weather system that generated in the Canadian Rockies and headed South out of Alberta on Monday.
It worked its way through Idaho and Wyoming, and built up over Utah on Tuesday, where it was anticipated to break up the high pressure that has been hanging over the Southwest and started the first major cold front of the season.
According to the NWS, an abrupt change in wind about 3 a.m. Tuesday allowed the cold front to move south and cause "high pressure rises," which resulted in high wind warnings for most of Tuesday.
Wind gusts were estimated to be coming from the northeast at 30-35 mph, with gusts as strong as 50 mph.
Today calls for a high of 46 degrees with a low of 39.
The good news is that along with the cold and wind came a 90% chance of much-needed precipitation through today.
The possibility of showers carries over to Thursday with a 40% chance, and the wind should die down to around 10 mph.
While eastern New Mexico will have an interesting few days, the northern mountains and northeastern plains have even wilder weather in store. The NWS forecast the area's first freeze of the season Tuesday, with a light mix of snow and rain. The area is also anticipated to rebound and carry on into the 70s and 80s next week.