New Mexico Weather 3/8 Morning - 31° Above Normal

Good morning. New Mexico. I'm Michael Nally. Step outside today and you'll feel temperatures that belong in May, not early March. We're talking record-breaking warmth under brilliant sunshine. Las Cruces soars to 73 degrees. Albuquerque tops out near 69. Even the northern mountains get in on the action — Santa Fe hits 62 with northwest winds gusting to 15 miles an hour. This is the kind of warmth that makes you want to cancel all your plans and just sit outside. But here's the serious part. While we're basking in this heat, critical fire weather conditions are building across the eastern plains. A Red Flag Warning kicks in at noon and runs until 8 P.M. For northeast and east central New Mexico. Gusty westerly winds, humidity dropping to single digits. And bone-dry vegetation create dangerous fire spread potential. Any spark could explode fast. If you're out there, be smart. Tonight, clear skies and a sharp cooldown. Lows drop to the low 30s in Albuquerque, upper 20s in Santa Fe, mid-40s down south. Monday cranks the heat even higher. Albuquerque climbs to 76 degrees — running 31 degrees above average. Southern New Mexico pushes near 80. Fire weather concerns continue with another round of gusty winds and low humidity. Then everything changes. A Pacific storm rolls in Monday night, bringing scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms Tuesday. Rain focuses along and south of Interstate 40. The higher peaks could see a few inches of snow, but rain will be the main story. Wednesday cools off and gets breezy — temperatures drop 31 degrees. Then we warm right back up. Thursday through Saturday look sunny and mild, with highs climbing back into the 70s and low 80s. One more thing — spring forward tonight. Clocks move ahead one hour for Daylight Saving Time. See you this afternoon.