I will be traveling from Rio Rancho, NM, to Amarillo, TX, this evening. This will be day 1 of our annual Christmas trip.
The NWS in Albuquerque, NM, forecasts (for Rio Rancho, NM) a mostly sunny day, with a high temperature of 42 F. Winds will be from the south at 5 mph, becoming west in the afternoon.
The NWS in Amarillo, TX, forecasts (for Amarillo, TX) decreasing clouds, with a low temperature of 25 F. The winds will be from the south at 10-15 mph, gusting to 25 mph, becoming west after midnight.
The Nested NAM simulated reflectivity shows precipitation is unlikely along my travel route today. This chart has been excluded from today’s post.
The Nested NAM predicts that our evening drive will drop from the 30’s to mid 20’s F.
The Nested NAM shows that the dewpoints will remain in the single digits and low 10s F along my travel route.
The Nested NAM shows strong wind gusts are possible along our route along I-40 and into Amarillo this evening.
The Nested NAM predicts that there will be partly to mostly cloudy skies along our route. Depending on when we leave Rio Rancho, the clouds may outrun us, and then we’ll be under clear skies.
It will be cold and a bit windy by this evening, but isn’t that the way a Christmas trip should be?
Thank you for reading my post.
Sources:
The forecasts from the National Weather Service are from The NWS Homepage
The upper air soundings and mesoscale analysis plots are from the Storm Prediction Center website.
The satellite data, model data, and forecasted soundings are from College of DuPage – SATRAD
High Plains Chasing 