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It sounds like moving to ABQ might be a good idea, that is, if I'm correct in assuming that severe weather only occurs there during the summer months. I live in Louisiana now, and I have to deal with this stuff all year round, severe weather September through May, and regular thunderstorms during the summer. Am I correct in my assumption?
Whenever Abq does have earthquakes (very rarely) you hardly feel it...if you feel it at all.
Albuquerque is fantastic weather-wise. You're right in that the most severe thunderstorms only occur in the mid-late summer. Those storms, naturally, consist of lots of rain, lots of lightning, but nothing your house can't survive. No hurricanes, tornadoes, or severe earthquakes to speak of.
Honestly, I'd say the weather is Albuquerque's best asset.
Just a little clarification for Hurricom, having lived in both NM and Louisiana. What New Mexicans consider "lots of rain", would not be consider lots of rain by anyone from Louisiana. A heavy thunderstorm in Louisiana can produce more rain in one day, than NM gets in a year. NM thunderstorms can be pretty spectacular, but nothing like the downpours in the Gulf South.
Just a little clarification for Hurricom, having lived in both NM and Louisiana. What New Mexicans consider "lots of rain", would not be consider lots of rain by anyone from Louisiana. A heavy thunderstorm in Louisiana can produce more rain in one day, than NM gets in a year. NM thunderstorms can be pretty spectacular, but nothing like the downpours in the Gulf South.
This is true. Albuquerque is in a desert, and it averages between 8.0 and 8.5 inches of rainfall per year...it is DRY. While in the summer "monsoon" season we can see some very hard downpours, typically they last no more than a half-hour or hour, and the region also experiences many 60, 70, 80, 90, etc., plus days of no precipitation in a row.
This area (the Rio Grande Valley desert region) of the U.S. southwest has the least "significant" weather catastrophes, on average (generally by far) than any other region in the U.S. (unless you count drought or accompanying fire risks...which can come into play in our desert region for sure).
Tornadoes are virtually non-existant, as are earthquakes. Obiously no hurricanes here. Blizzards (with the exception of this one once-in-a-lifetime winter) are non-existant. Severe thunderstorms happen in the monsoon season, but occur here far, far less than most other regions such as the Southwest, Plains, or Midwest. All-day rains almost never occur.
There is very low humidity here. There are no prolonged Arctic cold spells like in the Plains, Midwest, Northeast, etc., or prolonged periods of 100+ degree weather.
There are four seasons, but all are relatively joined together to make Albuquerque a very temperate climate.
I think you'd enjoy the lack of "weather" in this region in general!
Wow! Thanks for all the comments. They were very helpful. I am very tempted by what sounds like wonderful weather. I grew up in New Orleans, and I've lived in Louisiana most of my life, but I've really had it with the tornadoes and hurricanes. I'd be interested in the previous poster's comments concerning how the places differ (the poster who said he/she was from Louisiana).
hotter than usual for this time of year. I just looked at weather forecast and they're predicting 102 degrees for the 4th of July. I thought it didn't get into the triple digits until August, maybe late July. When is the monsoon season suppose to begin. Sorry - we're new in living here as you can see. I still like that it cools off in the evenings and mornings and the humidity is low and so we're not complaining just curious really!
The start of the monsoon varies between the last week of June
to the first week of July normally.
Record high temps for Albuquerque can be over 100 degrees
between 06/07 and 08/13 (and once on 09/05 in 1979).
Generally, the average temperature peaks in Albuquerque (and
the whole SW monsoon area, BTW) peaks 06/28 and declines
thereafter. Most 100 degree days will happen in June, next
July and almost none in August. However, August is generally
more uncomfortable with some humidity.
Phoenix and Tucson define the start of the monsoon locally
as the first day in the first 3 day sequence of mean daily
dew-point temperatures of 55 ° or greater respectively.
In Albuquerque, NM; El Paso, TX; Flagstaff, AZ there exist
no criteria for declaring the onset and demise of the monsoon.
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Lots of Rain
