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My husband and I are retiring in a few years, we are considering Sierra Vista, AZ, but when I read some of the posts in New Mexico it sort of get us excited too. Due to medical conditions, we are looking for a warm place to retire. (can not handle snow) Are there any military bases close by to warmer area of NM? Which part of NM would you recommend? Hot is okey with us, but what about during winter what is the average temperature? Thanks for your help.
Sounds like Las Cruces, Alamogordo or El Paso, TX would be best. Alamo has an AF base, while El Paso has Ft. Bliss. Las Cruces is close to both, and probably the prettiest of the three. Ruidoso is nearby for Mountain excursions or to cool off on a hot summer day. Whatever you can't find in Alamo or LC you can find by taking the short drive to EP.
Well Albuquerque gets a little snow, however, It usually melts with in a day or two. Most of the time the snow is less than an inch, but occasionally we get a really big one (every 7-8 years)
Las Cruces and Alamogordo would be best....both get very little snow ...averaging 2 to 4 inches ...some years no measureable snow ...both are close to military bases ...Holloman AFB ....Ft Bliss....White Sands Missile Range.......nice warm to hot summers ....and relatively mild winters ...highs in the upper 50's to mid 60's on average ....but it can vary...Alamogordo hit 81 degrees on Tues ...today only 63 ....hot spots today in NM are Clayton at 73 warm degrees and Tucumcari at 74 degrees.......the ususally much warmer Las Cruces is overcast and struggling in the low 50's today ...
PHX and Tucson both get snow from time to time, especially Tucson. Tucson got hit a few times last year, PHX had flurries and some pretty heavy snow in the outlying 'burbs.
Here's a map I made regarding average days of snow cover annually.
Data source is NOAA, averaged over a 30 year period.
I should add the cities and the regions are in a different coordinate system, therefore, Alamogordo is misplaced: the area around Alamogordo is dynamic when it comes to terrain, heading eastward. Alamogordo belongs in the yellow belt. I lived in La Luz for one winter, and it snowed there frequently in the canyons, by the time I drove to White Sands Boulevard, there was no snow at all. That drive was about 15 miles.
> PHX and Tucson both get snow from time to time, especially
> Tucson. Tucson got hit a few times last year, ....
Like GregW always says: "elevation elevation elevation"
That being said, I lived in Chandler from 2000 to 2007 and didn't see a friggin' flake. Not one. Zip. Zilch. Saying that Tucson "got hit" would lead someone not from there to think that the snow was something that would cause one's car to slip and slide. Maybe once in five years that will happen in Tucson and any snow in Phoenix isn't likely to accumulate in the streets.
That being said.2: Any time it rains in PHX/TUC the initial moisture will bring up oil on the road and cause much more slipperiness than people are used to 'back East."
> PHX had flurries and some pretty heavy snow in the outlying 'burbs.
Note that "outlying burbs" in Phoenix can mean homes almost 100 miles away - like Payson and Prescott which have climates much closer to Albuquerque than Phoenix.
Anyone who is worried about Phoenix snow should, in general, not be operating a motor vehicle in any circumstances.
mike0421: Awesome map! I' really surprised that the Mogollon rim is not more green on that map.
I would add that the precision is only good from the state-level view. I wouldn't lump Las Cruces in the same region as PHX-TUC.
I would also lump Flagstaff in with Los Alamos in terms of climate. It is generally colder in Flagstaff than in Helena, Montana. It's weird since it is about at the same elevation as Santa Fe.
> PHX and Tucson both get snow from time to time, especially
> Tucson. Tucson got hit a few times last year, ....
Like GregW always says: "elevation elevation elevation"
That being said, I lived in Chandler from 2000 to 2007 and didn't see a friggin' flake. Not one. Zip. Zilch. Saying that Tucson "got hit" would lead someone not from there to think that the snow was something that would cause one's car to slip and slide. Maybe once in five years that will happen in Tucson and any snow in Phoenix isn't likely to accumulate in the streets.
That being said.2: Any time it rains in PHX/TUC the initial moisture will bring up oil on the road and cause much more slipperiness than people are used to 'back East."
> PHX had flurries and some pretty heavy snow in the outlying 'burbs.
Note that "outlying burbs" in Phoenix can mean homes almost 100 miles away - like Payson and Prescott which have climates much closer to Albuquerque than Phoenix.
Anyone who is worried about Phoenix snow should, in general, not be operating a motor vehicle in any circumstances.
mike0421: Awesome map! I' really surprised that the Mogollon rim is not more green on that map.
I would add that the precision is only good from the state-level view. I wouldn't lump Las Cruces in the same region as PHX-TUC.
I would also lump Flagstaff in with Los Alamos in terms of climate. It is generally colder in Flagstaff than in Helena, Montana. It's weird since it is about at the same elevation as Santa Fe.
HUH? I have family in north Scottsdale, friends in Chandler and Carefree, all of which have seen snow accumulate, especially last year. Tucson got hit with several inches. I was there 2 years ago (north Scottsdale) and there were flurries! Sure its not a daily occurance, but to think Phoenix and its burbs dont get snow is silly.
Scottsdale:
http://desertdwellers.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/scottsdale.jpg (broken link)
> Tucson got hit with several inches. ... there were flurries! Sure its not a
> daily occurance, but to think Phoenix and its burbs dont get snow is silly.
You are picking at nits.
Several inches? Several is around seven. Seven inches in Tucson? *Maybe* in the foothills above 3,000 ft. A few inches, sure. I don't think it could have lasted more than an hour and even if there were a few inches, on your car, it sure wasn't that much in the street.
Phoenix has never had a snowfall that impacted driving for any length of time. That is what the original poster is concerned about. Seeing flakes and having stuff like plants and automobiles get a bit of a coating is not the same thing as "real" snow like you can see in Flagstaff.
For all practical purposes Phoenix and burbs under 2000 ft *never* see snow. Again, that's for _all_practical_purposes_. Tucson is almost the same, except that *sometimes* you might have to stay in your house for a couple of hours more if you need to go somewhere and are afraid of driving in an inch or two that may or may not have accumulated on the road. Most years, it won't happen.
Snow in Albuquerque or Denver will make vehicle travel difficult at least once a year or more. It might have happened once in Phoenix before I was born and may have happened in Tucson in the last ten years.
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