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Only the south end or low altitude is hot. You should mention what you are looking for. The North Central part of the state is referred to as the Central Highlands, and has several ski areas, but is burdened with liberal celebrity areas of Santa Fe and Taos. In that area but away from the Rio Grand Valley is Las Vegas, and farther up is Raton. Las Vegas is a mean town with an old Hispanic guard. Raton is much more progressive. There is some retirement area between Las Vegas and Hermits Peak. The town isnt bad as long as you stay out of the politics. The climate is beautiful there. I lived there 5 years. Winter is about 35 degrees and summer is about 85 or 90. Humidity is low. Elevation is around 7500 ft.
If you are looking for retirement area, then the Southest mountains are popular as is the eastern side around Ute Lake. Ute Lake never collects ice, the water is crystal clear, and 90 feet deep. It is the best Walleye lake in the 5 state region. It is 23 miles long and is good for skiing. Elevation is about 4500 feet. It is high enough that it gets the cool temperatures. Temps will reach 100 for maybe a week in the summer during the day, but by 10 PM the temp will be at or below 65. Winter temps are mild.
It all depends on what you are looking for. Tell us more.
Nice to hear from someone who actually lives in Ruidoso. Could you please clarify info on snow in Ruidoso.
I've only lived here through 2 winters... the last was quite dry, but cold like much of the world this winter. From early Dec to late Jan the highs tended to be in the 40s. There were zero significant snows this winter... ie more than a couple of inches. The previous winter we had a lot of snow (way above normal), but it was also warmer... usually over 50 if the sun was out... about normal. Snow didn't last long on the ground since it is nearly always sunny and not that cold. My neighbor is retired and he decided to sell his 4WD this year because he didn't need it. My wife drives into town for work and she does fine with snow tires on the front of a 2WD car.
I grew up in Illinois (near Effingham). I've lived all over the western US and Hawaii. I like the climate here the best of anywhere I've been. I miss those really nice spring and fall days in IL... but mostly because they were so rare. I told my Dad a few weeks ago that I don't think we've had two cloudy days in a row since I got here. He thought I was kidding... but I wasn't.
Mosquitoes love my blood... but they don't live here. I can sit outside in the evening and watch the sunset without getting devoured.
It is fairly affordable here, but costs more than most places in IL. You could buy a nice house for ~$200k in town, and less towards Capitan. We bought 16 acres of nice land near the Spencer theatre for $79k... paved roads, electric, DSL, etc. Taxes are low... I was pleasantly surprised at that.
As for negatives, this is a tourist town, so there is a large fluctuating population. It is generally clean and pretty though... lots of 2nd home mansions, etc. Lots of those are owned by Texans, but we are getting a more diverse population. Lot's of tourist shops downtown, but real shopping is kinda limited. Alamogordo is only 40 miles away though... and frankly I just buy stuff over the internet if I can't get it locally.
rruff and james57...I know that "best climate" is a very personal thing, but the Ruidoso area is tops with me, too. I live in Albuquerque, but own 10 acres in Alto (close to Spencer Theater). Depending on elevation, the Ruidoso-Alto area averages 35-45 inches of snow per winter. Most snow events don't last long and traffic is usually just disrupted for a day or two at a time. Once storms are over and the winter afternoon temps hit near 50...the sun and dry air 7000 feet above sea level gets rid of the snow quickly. Summers are great in my opinion. Afternoons usually reach 80-82, but can drop into the 60s and even 50s during and right after thunderstorms. Thunderstorms will form on most days along the eastern slopes of the Sacramento Mountains from late June through early September. Average max/min in winter is about 50 and 18. Average max/min in summer is about 82 and 50. July and August can be quite humid at times, but when it gets really humid...afternoon temperatures generally don't climb out of the 70s. When the humidity and thunderstorm season arrives, it's a relief from the very dry, windy, spring fire season.
Remember that the Weather from central N.M. to the Northern part can get to 20 below and in the northern part even colder. The summers rarely get to 100 degrees and no humidity. Going south from Central N.M. the temps can get 10 to 20 degrees warmer and some snow. Someone mentioned Cloudcroft and Ruidoso these are cool Summer places but get lots of snow and cold Weather and in the Summer can be in the 80s while 15 miles away in Alamogordo it can be over 100. My Suggestion for warm weather and a little snow at times to check out Las Cruces and Silver City and Alamogordo or Tularosa or Carrizozo or T.or C. or Socorro or even Belen. Roswell would be my favorite with warm weather and low housing prices. Silver City is 6000 ft elevation but the temps there are 10 t0 20 degrees warmer then the Elevation of 6000 ft in central N.M. Silver City has very friendly people and the area there is Beautiful but 300 miles from Albuquerque and isolated from the Rest of N.M. and i dont like the Air there when it rains. They had White rain the other day. Years ago when i was working out in that area the tools would copper coat in a few minutes after a Rain. el pintada kid
I like going to Ruidoso once in Awhile and maybe visiting all the Tourist shops there. I dont like going there when they have Bike Rallys or large gatherings because of the Traffic. Also lots of Deer in herds at night on peoples lawns and i Imagine the Bears and Mountain Lions and other Wild Animals come into town at night. Also the Danger of Forest fires is always there. I would think that Capitan would be Cheaper and Safer to live in then Ruidoso. el pintada kid
I've heard of a lot of people that love NM because of it's beauty. But is there any part of the entire state that the summers aren't so hot? Is there humidity at all or is it a dry heat? Snow at all in winters? Don't know how the winters are there...but I'm sure having a hard time finding a state and cities with the ideal weather we want!
None of it is blazing hot. It's comfortably warm in parts, or in other parts on the cool side.
You have to remember that in the SW, 85 is sweater weather. It's very pleasant when the temperatures reach 95-100.
Thanks much to rruff and mrgoodwx for your comments concerning the Ruidoso area. Certainly seems to verify my view that winter are mild indeed compared to other areas. Also the summer sounds very nice. I am trying to get to the area for a visit. Probably not til the fall at this point in time. Again, many thanks for the info.
The Ruidoso area looks nice and is certainly less expensive than the Santa Fe area where I live.
And snow at 7,000 feet does disappear quickly due to the sun and dry air. Often it doesn't stick at all on surfaces like the roads, walks, steps. I lost my snow shovel along with my winter coat.
If I were coming in now and buying at 7,000 feet plus I would, however, pay more attention to the orientation of drive, walk, front steps to the winter sun. If the sun is blocked by buildings or evergreens, then the snow doesn't disappear as quickly.
But maybe I'm just lazy and don't want to go out in my garage and look for that shovel.
If I were coming in now and buying at 7,000 feet plus I would, however, pay more attention to the orientation of drive, walk, front steps to the winter sun. If the sun is blocked by buildings or evergreens, then the snow doesn't disappear as quickly.
I very much agree. I lived in Crestline CA for a little while, and I was renting a house on a north facing slope. Even though it wasn't that cold, the snow and ice lasted all winter. My gfs parents lived on a south facing slope with a good view of the sun... it was like night and day.
So... I made sure I bought property on a south facing slope with no trees in the way. This area is perfect for solar heating, but few take advantage of it. In the tall pines it is difficult because the trees block the sun, but most of the available land outside of town is more pinion and juniper... which also reduces the fire danger. The forest is closing here on May 1, but the Fort Stanton BLM land (right next to where we bought) is never closed.
If we ever get a house built, it is going to be maximized for solar heating in the winter, with only a woodstove... no furnace or AC needed.
New Mexico's weather is very nice in most areas. Las Cruces is the only area in summer that I found to be too hot for my liking. ABQ was pretty dang hot, but pretty tolerable, much more so than Phoenix. Taos and Santa Fe were perfect in the summer, but too cold at night (even for my tastes). Winters in NM are pretty nice too. Expect some snow in some areas of the state, some places with none at all, some places get dumped on. Overall Id recommend somewhere like Rio Rancho, not too hot, not too cold. Some occasional snow which doesnt stick around long, and not too blazing hot in the summer.
Oh yeah, Santa Fe winter nights are dang cold. When I was there 3 years ago in January, the highs were in the 40s, which felt ok I guess, but as soon as that sun went down it turned into Antarctica. I left there after a week and came back to Chicagoland where it was actually warmer. lol Of course we had more snow though. lol
Believe it or not, but I actually overall agree with most everything Steve-O had to say here. A rare occurence sometimes, but in this case, yes, we do overall agree!
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Weather in New Mexico
