Cold Snap Forecast for New Mexico: The Next Arctic Blast
In Albuquerque the coldest week is usually Dec 25 to 31, with a normal low of 26°F, and the coldest night of the last 10 winters was 6°F on Jan 21, 2025.
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for Albuquerque.
Normals and records at Albuquerque International Airport
The coldest week in New Mexico, station by station
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at New Mexico reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
AlbuquerqueAlbuquerque International Airport, USW00023050
Dec 25 to 31
26°F
6°FJan 21, 2025
Nov 5
−17°FJan 7, 1971records since 1931
Las CrucesState University, USC00298535
Dec 25 to 31
29°F
15°FJan 22, 2025
Nov 13
−5°FFeb 3, 2011records since 1959
Santa FeSanta Fe County Municipal Airport, USW00023049
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Albuquerque against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 5 New Mexico reference stations.
At Albuquerque it is usually Dec 25 to 31, with a normal low of 26°F. At the other reference stations: Las Cruces Dec 25 to 31 (29°F), Santa Fe Dec 23 to 29 (19°F), Farmington Dec 26 to Jan 1 (18°F) and Roswell Dec 27 to Jan 2 (27°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Albuquerque reaches 32°F around Nov 22. The first actual freeze came around Nov 5 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Albuquerque was 6°F on Jan 21, 2025, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 13°F. Elsewhere: Las Cruces 15°F on Jan 22, 2025, Santa Fe −7°F on Dec 29, 2018 and Farmington −10°F on Jan 3, 2019. The record at the Albuquerque station is −17°F, on Jan 7, 1971, in daily records since 1931.
At Albuquerque a typical recent winter brings 91 nights at 32°F or colder and 10 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Albuquerque International Airport (USW00023050), State University (USC00298535), Santa Fe County Municipal Airport (USW00023049), Farmington Regional Airport (USW00023090) and Roswell Industrial Air Park (USW00023009). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
