NEWS
Record warmth, light snowpack sets up 'nasty fire season'
New Mexico's snowpack is 17% of normal this year
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They came early 鈥� green and black shimmers buzzing by feeders in Corrales and Santa Fe by mid-March, a sight often unseen until the first week of April. Prompted by a record-breaking heatwave, birders logging into migration maps reported being "alarmed" to see the hummingbirds so early.
The warmth has blasted through daily temperature records statewide, from Chama to Roswell, leaving forecasters concerned about what has now been ranked the state鈥檚 warmest year on record by a large margin.
That's been great for folks who like the outdoors but bodes ill as fire season cranks up.
"We have had a very, very warm start to the year," said Carter Greulich, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. "We saw several monthly record highs at various locations, if not almost the entirety of the state."
The warm, dry conditions are universal problems this year throughout the Western U.S.
In Albuquerque, the average temperature was 50.9 degrees during the first 91 days of 2026, more than four degrees higher than the second-warmest year on record in 2017, according to National Weather Service data. That year, temperatures averaged 46.7 degrees during the same period.
Making matter worse in 2026 is New Mexico's light snowpack, which is just 17% of normal. Greulich called the paltry snowpack "record-low territory."
High temperatures, dry conditions and a light snow pack all add up to serious risk of wildfires, he said. Fuels such as grasses on the Eastern Plains and timber in the mountains all have dried out much earlier than usual.
Snow is vanishing from all but the highest elevations in the West.
In Colorado, the snowpack this winter was the worst since recordkeeping began in 1941. Mountain snow accumulations in Colorado peaked a month early and contained only half the average moisture.
Vast areas of California, Oregon and Nevada also are much drier than normal and many western cities are cutting back on water use.
"With all these warm temperatures, we're kind of looking at the potential for a pretty, pretty nasty fire season," Greulich said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Olivier Uyttebrouck covers the court system. You can reach him at olivier@abqjournal.com.
