Area showered in much-needed precipitation
Nearly an inch of rain showered on the Santa Fe area Wednesday through early Thursday, providing a little relief for a bone-dry year in which precipitation levels have been way off normal.
Snow was falling in other parts of northern New Mexico, mostly at elevations higher than 8,000 feet. A location just outside Angel Fire and Sandia Crest in Albuquerque’s Sandia Mountains had received as much as 4 inches through Thursday morning, while Red River got an inch, according to the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.
“This has been the first significant rainfall you’ve had since the snowfall of April,” noted Tim Shy, a senior forecaster with the NWS.
While there was some rain in the Santa Fe area on May 9, the last bout of significant precipitation was the mid-April snowfall, when there was, on average, about 2{ inches of snow in town and 4 inches in places such as Glorieta Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Prior to this week’s wave of moisture, precipitation in Albuquerque (the National Weather Service doesn’t keep numbers for Santa Fe, Shy said) was only 40 percent of normal through the beginning of the year. In the spring season — encompassing March, April and May — precipitation was a mere 10 percent of normal.
“We have been bloody dry,” Shy said.
In the Santa Fe National Forest, the aridness had brought on discussions about whether to enact low level fire restrictions, spokeswoman Dolores Maese said.
But, “this is really good moisture. Hopefully, this will hold us off,” she said.
The wet weather should help edge precipitation levels back toward the normal range, Shy said. He expected Santa Fe to get another half inch or so of rain this week, mostly from soft showers.
“I don’t think it’s going to completely control the problem, but certainly it’s going to help,” he said.
The NWS was predicting a 10 percent chance of showers today and Saturday, with sun and some clouds, as well as temperatures in the 80s, through Wednesday.
