Warmest Areas In the Winter In the State? (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: to live, distance)

[kar]

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

[Steve-o]

More than likely it would be Las Cruces.

[Crackerjack]

I agree with Steve-o. Carlsbad and Deming are also mild in the winter. Carlsbad is probably the hottest in the summer. You will feel like you are on the sun!

[jecc]

Yup, what they said. Generally, the farther south you go and the lower in elevation you stay, the warmer you'll be. Rule of thumb is you get 5 degrees colder for every 1,000 feet you rise.

I live at 9,000 feet, and the nearest "major" town is around 4,300 feet. I've seen it nearly 100 degrees down there in summer and 65-70 up here. In winter, if it's zero up here, it might be only 30-35 down there.

Cruces and Carlsbad are both relatively low and far south, so it figures that they are warm. Now, if you also want a place that's not terribly hot in summer, look to the middle ground in elevation. You can live in the south at, say, 6,000-6,500 feet and be quite comfortable year-round.

[kar]

Originally Posted by jecc

Yup, what they said. Generally, the farther south you go and the lower in elevation you stay, the warmer you'll be. Rule of thumb is you get 5 degrees colder for every 1,000 feet you rise.

I live at 9,000 feet, and the nearest "major" town is around 4,300 feet. I've seen it nearly 100 degrees down there in summer and 65-70 up here. In winter, if it's zero up here, it might be only 30-35 down there.

Cruces and Carlsbad are both relatively low and far south, so it figures that they are warm. Now, if you also want a place that's not terribly hot in summer, look to the middle ground in elevation. You can live in the south at, say, 6,000-6,500 feet and be quite comfortable year-round.

What towns would be in the middle ground elevations?

[jecc]

Originally Posted by kar

What towns would be in the middle ground elevations?

You'd have to look at a topo map to be sure. Also, most of the city data entries on this website give towns' elevations. Off hand, I can think of Silver City, Capitan, and High Rolls. You might check a map near those places. They are all in the southern part of the state. I live near High Rolls and can tell you that to the east is higher and to the west is lower.

I don't know northern NM as well. Taos and Santa Fe are higher (7,000-7,500 feet), but you might look at areas near there. In the north, you might want to look lower, like around 5,000 feet and below.

[Chaparral]

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.

Just for clarification, what do you consider "too cold"?

And to briefly add to jecc's comment, Albuquerque is situated at approximately 5000 feet...

Chap

[catman]

I did some research into this a lot of years ago, and at that time, the town of Jal was the warmest place in the winter, in the southeastern corner. Going west and north from there, the winters are colder, although the southern fringe is relatively warm. Dulce was coldest, in the north central area close to Colorado, but all of the high elevation northern places are cold. Eagle Nest is very cold because it's in a high mountain valley.

[Steve97415]

Due to the distance from major bodies of water, there aren't really any mild climates in the Southwest. The total temporal fluxuation is about the same everywhere. From Palm Springs to El Paso up to Taos and across to Flagstaff it is about 75-80 degrees anywhere you go (difference between the average summer highs and average winter lows). The only thing that varies is that elevation changes the median of that 75-80 degree range. If you want to live somewhere where it doesn't get much colder than 30 at night during the coldest part of winter, you can expect highs of 105-110 in summer. If you want to live where it doesn't get any warmer than 75-80 degrees in the summer, overnight lows in winter will bottom out at around zero. The trick is to find the elevation where your individual "sweet spot" prevails. If you find winter cold to be the most adverse kind of weather, the lowest elevation climates have the least of it. If summer heat is the worst of all evils for you, then start your search at 7,000 ft. But you have to take one or the other. A climate that gets neither too cold in winter nor too hot in summer requires oceanic influence. As jecc mentioned, the 6,000 ft. elevation is a commonly-cited standard for a "Goldilocks" climate in the SW. The average diurnal fluctuation is about half the TTF, so expect around 40 degrees difference between day and night. A place that gets up to 70 during the day in winter may still have freezing temperatures at night. A place that gets up over 100 in the day in summer may still start out in the 60's at dawn.

[catman]

Right you are. The influences of continentality and elevation are the dominant ones in New Mexico. The dry air heats and cools quickly, and as you said, the diurnal and seasonal ranges are large. I'll take that over humidity, but it's a matter of opinion.