Mostly sunny skies will rule over New Mexico on both Thursday and Friday.  After another day of mountain storms drier air began to push through the state this afternoon.  That dry air will overtake the rest of the state overnight.

Highs will top out in the mid 80′s in the metro area tomorrow while eastern NM will top out near 100°.  Friday will be warm as well with temps statewide 10°-15° above average.  Winds will crank up a bit by Friday as well.  SW winds will top 35 mph at a gust over eastern NM.

The weekend looks interesting at the very least.  A trough will drop down into the mountain west.  If this trough heads as far south as NM it could lead to some showers.  Stay tuned.

Unlike last week temps will warm to above seasonal levels with little or no precipitation over the state.  Our highs Tuesday will be in the mid 80′s with partly sunny skies.  Tuesday will actually be our best chance for a shower but even that shower crop will favor the northern mountains and leave only a 10% chance of showers for the metro.

By Wednesday the meager chance for rain drops even more as temps rise into the high 80′s.  The threat of dry lightning will be a concern over the northern mountains.

Through the rest of the week temps will remain above average with occasionally gusty winds.  Fire danger should continue to rise as well.  As far as when we might see a bigger storm head in our direction, that is likely to hold off until next week at the earliest.

Unfortunately, our chances for showers continue to dwindle.  On Monday and Tuesday there’s still a chance for a few pop-up storms, but they’ll be mainly confined to the Northern Mountains and their Eastern Slopes.    Temperatures will be the big weather story this week.  On Monday, we’ll break into the 80s in the Metro then the upper 80s by mid-week.  Some areas in the Southeast will climb into the mid and upper 90s by mid-week.  So it’s really going to feel like summer this week!

We’ll also be watching a low pressure system that will move through the Southern portion of the state on Tuesday.  It could spark some scattered t-storms throughout the state.  But, there isn’t going to be much moisture left at the surface.  So any storm that does form on Tuesday will likely only pick up the wind for a brief time and produce some dry-lightning.

New Mexico saw another round of scattered showers on Saturday.  However, they weren’t as widespread as they were on Friday.  Plus, the showers had a tougher time putting  down much in the way of rain.  The moisture that’s been hanging around the state is dwindling so the chance for a few spot storms will  be concentrated over the Northern Mountains and over the Gila’s on Mother’s Day.

Temperatures will start warming up on Sunday as a ridge begins to build over the Southwest.  The ridge will help temps in Albuquerque to climb into the 80s by Monday!   But, a couple disturbances will pass through the region.  These systems will keep the chance for some spot showers in the forecast for the Northern Mountains and Northeast.   And remember that low pressure system that moved into the region earlier last week and has been hanging out just to our south in Mexico ever since?  Well it will move through Southeastern New Mexico on Tuesday and that could trigger some spotty showers for parts of the state on Tuesday.

After some widespread, scattered shower activity on Friday our chances for rain will slowly be going down over the weekend.  On Saturday there still will be just enough moisture to trigger some scattered showers on Saturday, but there won’t be as many as there were on Friday.  On Sunday the chances get even smaller with the best chance being over the Northern Mountains.

Temperatures will be the weather story next week.  Westerly flow will allow temps to warm above average.