While 2005 was extremely dry and 2006 was wet, precipitation across New Mexico in 2007 and 2008 generally did not stray too far from normal. In 2008, precipitation was a little below normal over the east, near normal in the north thanks to a snowy December, while the southwest was mostly above normal. Meanwhile, temperatures averaged above normal over most of the state in 2008.

This year's annual weather and climate review is again organized into topics which are accessed by the tabs across the top of the page. This page provides links to statistics for temperature and precipitation in Albuquerque, Clayton and Roswell for 2008, and a review of the yearly precipitation across the state by Climate Divisions. Other topics in this review include a summary of the drought status and recap of the Hydrologic program for 2008; a recap of the Fire Weather program for 2008; a list of all the records around Albuquerque, Clayton and Roswell in 2008 as well as extremes for Albuquerque and the growing season around the Duke City; a month to month recap of the significant weather events across New Mexico including photos; and a recap of 2008's severe weather.

For the year 2008, New Mexico precipitation was close to normal in most areas, but variability during the year was rather dramatic. For portions of northwest New Mexico (Divisions 1, 2 and 4) a favorable storm track resulting in above average precipitation. For the remainder of the state, 2008 got off to a dry start, particularly across the southeast (Division 7). Spring was dry statewide, and by the end of June much of the state had precipitation totals that ranged from 25% to 75% of normal. The monsoons came on strong in July, and precipitation records were broken at a number of locations. Precipitation values returned to near normal levels for most locations during the last half of the year. The year ended in a variable fashion - for December the northwest corner of the state received well-above normal precipitation while the southeast half of the state was dry. By the end of the year, snow pack across the northern mountains was also above normal.