APRIL 2004 WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS FOR NEW MEXICO

April 2004 was a wet month across nearly all of New Mexico with precipitation much above normal.  Temperatures were cooler than normal across the state. 

The month began with quite a 'splash' as copious amounts of rain covered much of the state from the 2nd through 5th, with snow in the northern and central mountains and adjacent high plains. Two storm systems and a cold front were responsible for the substantial precipitation event.  After a brief break on the 6th and 7th, another upper level storm system moved across the state.  This was a weaker and faster moving storm, but packed quite a punch in terms of heavy rain and isolated severe weather on the 8th.  The active weather continued from the 9th through the 12th as another storm moved southeast across the state along with a strong surface cold front.  Showers and thunderstorms were common over the west during this time with snow over the central mountains and adjacent high eastern plains.  Isolated severe weather was reported on the 9th in the far northeast with nickel sized hail in Clayton.  It was exceptionally cold in the northeast as well from the 10th through 12th with highs only in the 30s and 40s.  Mainly dry and warmer weather finally returned from the 13th through 16th.  A storm passing over the four corners area on the 17th and lifting into Colorado on the 18th delivered strong winds to the state on the 17th.  Less wind and mostly dry conditions returned on the 19th through 21st, although afternoons were generally breezy.  In addition, thunderstorms erupted on the 19th across southeast New Mexico as low level moisture was sufficient to fuel the storms.  A few reports of severe weather were received in Roosevelt and Lea counties.  Yet another storm crossed northern New Mexico on the 23rd, bringing strong winds on the 22nd and heavy snow to the Sangre De Cristo mountains and Northeast Highlands on the 23rd.  Much colder temperatures were also noted over the state, but especially in the northeast.  The last week of April was relatively quiet until the final storm of the month on the 29th and 30th.  This system reached the 4 corners area early on the 30th, delivering strong winds to western and southern new Mexico on the 29th, as well as isolated severe weather in the northeast.  Scattered showers and thunderstorms and higher northern mountain snows were also noted on the 29th and 30th.  Chilly temperatures for late April were found across much of the state on the 30th, especially in the northeast where highs struggled through the 40s and 50s.   

Powerful Storm Brings Substantial Precipitation to the State From the 2nd - 5th April got off to a wet, and in a few locations, a white start as two storms and a back door cold front combined to bring significant precipitation to the entire state from late on the 1st into the 5th.  The first storm moved across Baja California on the 1st and weakened as it crossed the state on the 2nd.  A much stronger storm settled into Arizona on the 3rd and remained there through the 4th before heading into New Mexico on the 5th, and exiting the eastern part of the state on the 6th.  Meanwhile a cold front pressed into the northeast late on the 2nd and moved south on the 3rd.  The infrared satellite loop above and to the left shows the clouds and associated moisture over the state on the 2nd, as the 2nd storm organized well to the west.  The water vapor satellite image above and in the middle shows the moisture over New Mexico on the 3rd, as the main storm sat over southern Arizona.  The visible satellite loop above and to the right shows extensive clouds over the state on the 4th.  Note how the clouds are rotating around the storm still anchored over Arizona.  The surface image to the right is displaying the dew points on the morning of the 3rd.  Recall the dew points are a measure of the amount of moisture in the air.  The three radar images below are from the 2nd (left image is from the morning and center one from the afternoon) and 3rd (right image - from the morning).  Much of the precipitation that formed over the state set up in bands.  The west to east bands on the morning of the 2nd (below-left) shifted to a more northwest to southeast orientation by the afternoon of the 2nd (below-center), then they lined up in a north-south fashion on the 3rd (below-right).  These bands of precipitation meant a long duration of rain or snow over the same area in many cases.  This resulted in some impressive 4 to 5 day rain amounts across the state.  Some of the rainfall totals are listed in both tabular and graphical forms below.  Not all of the precipitation was liquid, as snow fell over the Sangre De Cristo mountains and northeast highlands.  A few of the more impressive snowfall totals included a report of 3 feet in Gascon, along with around 7 inches in Red River and Eagle Nest.  Rainfall Totals From April 1 - 5 Location Amount (inches) Gascon 4.93 (3 feet of snow) near Sedillo Hill 4.06 - 4.17 Johnson Ranch 4.04 Carlsbad 3.77 Torreon 3.29 Albuquerque Foothills 2.70 Albuquerque Airport 2.47 Tucumcari 2.42 Raton 2.38 Albuquerque West Mesa 2.26 Melrose 2.25 Socorro 2.24 Albuquerque South Valley 2.13 Eagle Nest 2.12 (7.4 inches snow) Red River 2.05 (7 inches snow)

Spring Storm Delivers Strong Winds on the 22nd and Snow on the 23rd

A spring storm moved southeast from the Great Basin toward the four corners region late on the 22nd and across northern New Mexico on the 23rd.  The infrared satellite image above clearly shows the storm on the evening of the 22nd.  At the same time a cold front raced south across the eastern plains during the early morning hours of the 23rd.  The storm and associated surface front combined to deliver a variety of weather to the state over this two day period.  The most widespread event was the wind, which brought blowing dust and sand to the west central and southwest portions of the state.  The table below reveals some of the higher peak wind gusts across the state.  Much cooler temperatures were noted statewide, but especially in the northeast.  The surface temperature loop to the right illustrates the sharp drop in temperatures in the northeast from the 22nd to 23rd.  Scattered showers and thunderstorms dotted the Land of Enchantment on the 22nd and 23rd, with most of the activity in the northeast, as shown on the Doppler radar image above and to the right from the evening of the 22nd. This band of precipitation lingered through the night of the 22nd into the 23rd and changed to snow over the higher elevations. The final weather event from this storm was the heavy wet snow that fell over the Sangre De Cristo mountains into the northeast  The table below and to the right lists some snowfall totals from the storm.
Strong Wind Gusts on the 22nd Location Peak Wind Gust (mph) Deming 48 Grants 46 Gallup 44 Sierra Blanca Airport 43 Double Eagle Airport 43 Clines Corners 41 Albuquerque Sunport 40 Taos 40 Silver City 40	Heavy Wet Snow on the 23rd Location Snow Amount (inches) Red River 14 Vermejo Park 9-12 Des Moines 10 Eagle Nest  8-10 Ute park  8-9 Capulin 6 Raton Port of Entry 5 Philmont Scout Ranch 3-4 Roy 3

TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION DATA FOR ALBUQUERQUE - APRIL 2004

Albuquerque daily actual maximum (red bars) and normal maximum (purple line) temperatures - April 2004

The average maximum temperature for April 2004 was 65.7o, which was 4.9 degrees below the 30 year normal of 70.6o.  The highs of 46 on the 4th and 47 on the 11th were an impressive 21 and 22 degrees below the normal high for their respective dates.  However, these were not record low maximum temperatures for either date.

Albuquerque daily actual minimum (blue bars) and normal minimum (purple line) temperatures - April 2004

The average minimum temperature for the month was 43.3o, which was 2.8 degrees above the normal of 40.5o.   The average temperature for April was 54.5o which was 1.1 degrees below the normal of 55.6o.  This was the 2nd month this year with below normal average temperatures, joining February as the other month.  January and March were quite a bit above normal.

Albuquerque daily precipitation - April 2004

SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS NEW MEXICO - APRIL 2004