Icy winter giving way to warmer weather this week

Feb. 19—With the sun shining overhead and no more ice under one's feet, the long, cold winter feels like it is retreating.

That warmer feeling will continue for the coming week in Santa Fe, except for some blustery weather forecast mid-week.

Temperatures will range from 3 to 10 degrees above the seasonal average into the weekend, without a drop of rain expected in the Santa Fe area, according to the National Weather Service.

Tuesday and Wednesday will feel downright balmy, with highs around 60 degrees, a dramatic contrast to the frigid weather that has chilled the area since the holiday season.

Santa Fe will get stiff 20 mph to 30 mph winds blowing Wednesday, with gusts up to 45 mph. On Tuesday, the area is predicted to get gusts up to 20 mph, which is normal this time of year.

"It's really just Wednesday that has the wind of concern," meteorologist Clay Anderson said.

The upcoming windy conditions will likely result in critical fire weather watches in some areas surrounding Santa Fe but not the city itself because the recent wet and icy conditions have made the fire hazards low there, Anderson said.

Santa Fe residents should be cautious when driving Wednesday into areas like Albuquerque, which will be under a fire watch, he said, adding the watch will be bumped up to a red flag warning if conditions warrant.

Meanwhile, El Niño, a Pacific Ocean climate pattern, is bringing the wetter, snowier winter to New Mexico that was expected, Anderson said.

"So far, so good," he said.

That has benefited the snowpack, Anderson said. A satellite map shows the snowpack's moisture content is between 107% and 125% of normal in the Sangre de Cristo and Jemez mountains, which includes the Santa Fe ski basin, he said.

The colder temperatures are helping to maintain the ample snowpack, Anderson said. And winter isn't over, so more storms are likely to bolster it before spring, he said, with the next storm forecasted to arrive early next week.

"It looks like we may have a system coming from the west," he said, "so it should pile up more snow."