Warmest Areas In the Winter In the State? (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: live in, vs.)

[james57]

As a refinement to the previous posts, I would suggest that latitude has some effect also. The further south you go at a given elevation, the warmer in general it will be . Or am I wrong?

Jim

[winnie]

Generally speaking, south means warmer. But keep in mind that NM is split in half by the southern range of the Rocky mountains, which fork into two ranges as you go south. There are also signficant mountains to the west of the LC area.

Also there are some flat areas with significant elevations so that can wreak havoc on that generalization too. Clovis sits at around 4000 feet which gives it about a good solid month or so of winter weather while cities at that same latitude such as Dallas and Savannah tend to be a little warmer.

Look at a weather map of NM. Most spring and fall days you can find temps ranging from 20 degrees up in the Northern NM areas of Taos to possibly 90 degrees in LC. At roughly the same latitude as LC is Ruidoso, where it may be snowing and 40 degrees that same day. So IMO it is the terrain that has the most effect on the temps there.

[JessieB]

other than the obvious florida and places like that, what is the warmest place in the states that is close to windsor ? because i am planning on leaving home for university and i want to go some place warm but not far away from my family and friends...like a driving distance

[Six Foot Three]

Originally Posted by JessieB

other than the obvious florida and places like that, what is the warmest place in the states that is close to windsor ? because i am planning on leaving home for university and i want to go some place warm but not far away from my family and friends...like a driving distance

Closest to Windsor??? You mean Windsor Ontario up in Canada?? Are you sure you posted in the correct state?

[catman]

Windsor, ONT is a long way from anywhere warm in winter.

[Poncho_NM]

Originally Posted by kar

What is the warmest areas in the winter time? We would like an area that is not to cold in the winter.

Some of those warm winter areas are pretty darn hot in the Summer.

Las Cruces has pretty good overall temperatures without being to cold in the winter.

But you really need to consider altitude, humidity and winds which can vary greatly and affect your comfort level...

This might be of interest: CLIMATE OF NEW MEXICO
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/narratives/NEWMEXICO.htm

'elevation is a greater factor in determining the temperature of any specific locality than its latitude. This is shown by only a 3° F difference in mean temperature between stations at similar elevations, one in the extreme northeast and the other in the extreme southwest; however, at two stations only 15 miles apart, but differing in elevation by 4,700 feet, the mean annual temperature are 61° and 45° F, a difference of 16° F or a little more than 3° decrease in temperature for each 1,000-foot increase in elevation.'

Rich

[mortimer]

james57 wondered:

> As a refinement to the previous posts, I would suggest that
> latitude has some effect also. The further south you go at
> a given elevation, the warmer in general it will be .
> Or am I wrong?

You are right. Rule of thumb mentioned earlier was that the
temperature change is 5 deg F per 1,000 ft. elevation. It is
closer to 4 deg, but if a 5 deg error for a 5,000 ft change is
a big deal for you, you should live in a Meditteranean climate
you weenie.

The other rule of thumb is that for every 300 miles you travel
N it is about the same as going 1,000 ft up - again another
4-5 deg temperature difference.

Therefore, a point on the N border of NM at the same elevation
as a point on the S border of NM should be about 4-5 deg
cooler. Another way of looking at it is that a 5,000 ft town
in S NM is about the same as a 4,000 ft town in N NM.

Pueblo, Colorado, for instance, has a warmer climate than
Albuquerque.

Another thing to consider is proximity to mountains and being
in a valley. In Albuquerque, it's always cooler in the valley than
in the foothills at night and warmer in the day. In winter, this
means that while it is 20 deg on Tramway, it is only 10 deg near
the river at night. Angel Fire can often be 40 deg cooler than
Taos just a few miles away at night.

[Poncho_NM]

Even as we speak, here in North Corrales/ South Rio Rancho, it has snowed, hailed and rained in the last 3 hours. The worst part of the weather has been the wind, which has been about 20 mph. Visibility is less than 8 miles and ABQ and Sandia mountain is not visible due to the precipitation. However, if I go to the other side of the house I can see sunshine and clear skies to the North.



Rich

[TigerLily24]

Purely personal observation based on 50 winters in the northeast and 1 in Las Cruces:
'Cold' is a relative term. Yes, of course we can talk in terms of actual temperatures, and in that sense, it does get 'cold' in Las Cruces and in the rest of New Mexico.

However,
when I think of 'cold', after having spending those aforementioned winters in the NE, it means more than just temperature. It means those gray days that roll in around Halloween and sometimes don't leave until Easter. It means freezing rain and snow and wind that blows both into your face and through your clothes. It means icy slush at the curbside that turns into ice after dark.
It means mountains of dirty snow that sits around until the crocus bloom.
It means skidding on the turnpike while being pelted by salt trucks.

Yes, the wind can blow here like crazy, but, the sun still shines, the snow doesn't last long, at least down south, and 20 degrees in dry air just isn't as uncomfortable as it is in other places.

Just my $.02.

[EnjoyEP]

Good info from mortimer as always, however, one anal nitpicky thing I had to chime in here about:

Originally Posted by mortimer

Pueblo, Colorado, for instance, has a warmer climate than
Albuquerque.

I wouldn't say that this is entirely true. Being a) a weather geek, and b) always kind of fascinated with the smaller CO towns along I-25 south of Denver, I always kind of oddly was intrigued by Pueblo's climate / temps, especially in comparison with Denver (450 feet higher in altitude and what, an hour-and-a-half or so to the north of Pueblo).

While many days Pueblo can be warmer / milder than Albuquerque, overall I would say ABQ has a warmer / milder climate in general; average highs between the two cities is roughly the same, but average lows are fairly significantly warmer in ABQ:

If we can trust the Weather Channel's record-keeping for averages, here is how they stack out in terms of average monthly annual temperatures:

ALBUQUERQUE, NM
MONTH HI LOW
Jan 48°F 24°F
Feb 55°F 28°F
Mar 62°F 34°F
Apr 71°F 41°F
May 80°F 50°F
Jun 90°F 59°F
Jul 92°F 65°F
Aug 89°F 63°F
Sep 82°F 56°F
Oct 71°F 44°F
Nov 57°F 32°F
Dec 48°F 24°F

Average Weather for Albuquerque, NM - Temperature and Precipitation


PUEBLO, CO
Jan 47°F 15°F
Feb 52°F 19°F
Mar 59°F 27°F
Apr 67°F 35°F
May 77°F 45°F
Jun 88°F 54°F
Jul 94°F 60°F
Aug 91°F 59°F
Sep 83°F 49°F
Oct 71°F 36°F
Nov 57°F 24°F
Dec 49°F 18°F

Average Weather for Pueblo, CO - Temperature and Precipitation

COMPARISON:
Jan: Hi - ABQ +1° / Low - ABQ +9°
Feb: Hi - ABQ +3° / Low - ABQ +9°
Mar: Hi - ABQ +3° / Low - ABQ +7°
April: Hi - ABQ +4° / Low - ABQ +6°
May: Hi - ABQ +3° / Low - ABQ +5°
June: Hi - ABQ +2° / Low - ABQ +5°
July: Hi - PUEB +2° / Low - ABQ +5°
Aug: Hi - PUEB +2° / Low - ABQ +4°
Sept: Hi - PUEB +1° / Low - ABQ +7°
Oct: Hi - Even / Low - ABQ +8°
Nov: Hi - Even / Low - ABQ +8°
Dec: Hi - PUEB +1° / Low - ABQ +6°

*Also, Pueblo on average receives significantly more snowfall annually.

This chart from the NOAA lists Pueblo's average annual snowfall at 33.2 inches; Albuquerque's only at 11.0 inches:

Snowfall - Average Total In Inches


So overall I agree with mort's points - they are well taken, however, you are definitely in a milder spot in ABQ in general!

(And yes, only a complete and utter weather geek would devote this much space to comparing temps between ABQ and Pueblo, CO! ).