March 2024 was overall a bit above average for temperatures, but wetter than average. The average temperature was 39.3 degrees, 1.1 degrees above average, while the precipitation total at my northside location was 1.42″, which was about 0.56″ above average.

There was quite a range of precipitation across the valley in March, with the northern third receiving about 1.00 to 1.40 inches. Central parts of the valley saw about 0.70 to 1.00 inches of moisture, while the southern third was driest with amounts of only 0.40 to 0.70 inches, Most of the difference was due to the storm of March 25th, which dumped 6 to 10 inches of snow on the northern sections, while much less precipitation occurred across the southern third.

The month started out dry and mild with highs in the 50s during the first week. A weak system brought some moisture and cooler temperatures for the 8th and 9th, but then it warmed back up again into the upper 40s to near 60 from the 10th to the 23rd. Some light rain and snow showers occurred during this time, but amounts were on the light side.

The main weather system of the month was the storm on the 23rd to the 26th. At my north location, a record amount of snow fell on the 25th (9.1″), while the high that day was a record cold one of only 33 degrees. Total precipitation for the storm totaled 1.08 inches at my location.

During the last week of the month, dry weather returned with high temperatures climbing back into the 50s to low 60s, quickly melting the snow by the 27th.

The warmest high for the month was 64 degrees on the 30th, while the coldest high was 33 degrees on the 25th. The warmest low was 37 degrees on the 3rd, with the coldest low of 17 degrees on the 10th.

Wind speeds overall were a little above average for the month. There were a total of 7 days with gusts of 35 mph or higher. The day with the highest average wind speed was the 31st, with winds gusting to as high as 50 mph on that date.

Here are the actual numbers for the month…

Average Temp . . . . 39.3 degrees, +1.1 degrees above average

Average High . . . . . 52.7 degrees, -0.1 degrees below average

Average Low . . . . . 25.9 degrees, +2.4 degrees above average

Total precip . . . . . . 1.42 inches, +0.56 inches above average

Total snowfall . . . . 13.6 inches, +7.2 inches above average

MAR 2024 DAILY DATA for 4 NNW Taos

DATE	HIGH	LOW	DAILY DEP.	MON. DEP.	PCPN	SNOW	REMARK
1	56	22	+5.2	+5.2
2	59	27	+8.2	+6.7
3	58	37	+12.5	+8.6
4	54	23	+3.7	+7.4
5	56	18	+1.9	+6.3
6	54	23	+3.3	+5.8
7	51	23	+1.3	+5.2
8	42	24	-3.3	+4.1	0.11″	1.2″
9	41	22	-5.8	+3.0	0.02″	0.3″
10	54	17	-2.3	+2.5
11	55	23	+1.2	+2.4
12	58	29	+6.5	+2.7
13	47	29	+0.7	+2.6	0.08″	0.4″
14	51	27	+1.2	+2.5	0.01″	0.1″
15	47	29	-0.1	+2.3	T	T
16	50	27	+0.2	+2.2	0.06″	0.1″
17	47	30	-1.1	+2.0	0.02″	0.2″
18	54	18	-2.9	+1.7
19	57	24	+1.5	+1.7	T	T
20	59	20	0	+1.6	0.04″	T
21	60	24	+2.2	+1.6
22	62	25	+3.0	+1.7
23	59	36	+7.2	+1.9	0.05″
24	46	31	-1.9	+1.8	0.10″	0.2″
25	33	28	-10.1	+1.3	0.77″	9.1″	Record cold high and snowfall
26	37	23	-10.6	+0.8	0.16″	2.0″
27	45	23	-6.0	+0.6	T	T
28	57	22	-0.7	+0.5
29	59	32	+5.5	+0.7
30	64	33	+8.6	+1.0
31	62	33	+6.0	+1.1
AVGS/ TOTAL	Max 52.7	Min 25.9	Month 39.3	+1.1	1.42″	13.6″

DAILY DEP. – Departure from the long term daily average temperature

MON. DEP. – Cumulative departure from the long term monthly average temperature

PCPN – Precipitation

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February 2024 was overall milder and wetter than average. The average temperature was 34.8 degrees, 3.7 degrees above average, while the precipitation total was 1.19″, which was about 0.50″ above average. Most areas of the valley recorded about 0.70″ to 1.00″ of precipitation for the month, with a little less closer to the Rio Grande.

The month started out cool and wet, with the bulk of the precipitation occurring during the first 10 days of the month. Highs during this period were mostly in the upper 30s to upper 40s, with lows of 15 to 25. It then dried out and gradually warmed up from the middle to the end of the month, as highs climbed into the upper 40s and 50s, with lows still pretty much from 15 to 25.

One more weather system blew through the region on the 26th and 27th, bringing some light rain to most areas, with heavier amounts on the south side of the valley. The strongest winds of the month occurred on these two days, with peak wind gusts of 43 mph on the 26th, and gusts to 52 mph on the 27th.

The warmest high for the month was 60 degrees on the 25th, while the coldest high was 31 degrees on the 10th. The warmest low was 36 degrees on the 26th, a record for the date. The coldest low was 8 degrees on the 11th. A record amount of daily precipitation (0.23″) and snow (2.9″) occurred on the 3rd.

Wind speeds overall were about average for the month, especially during the first 3 weeks of the month. There were a total of 6 days with gusts of 35 mph or higher. The day with the highest average wind speed was the 27th.

Here are the actual numbers for the month…

Average Temp . . . . 34.8 degrees, +3.7 degrees above average

Average High . . . . . 47.7 degrees, +2.7 degrees above average

Average Low . . . . . 21.9 degrees, +4.6 degrees above average

Total precip . . . . . . 1.19 inches, +0.50 inches above average

Total snowfall . . . . 8.0 inches, +0.8 inches above average

FEB 2024 DAILY DATA for 4 NNW Taos

DATE	HIGH	LOW	DAILY DEP.	MON. DEP.	PCPN	SNOW	REMARK
1	52	26	+11.2	+11.2
2	45	29	+9.8	+10.5	0.25″	0.8″
3	34	28	+3.3	+8.1	0.23″	2.9″	Daily record pcpn/snow
4	39	15	-1.4	+5.7	T	T
5	51	17	+4.7	+5.5
6	47	29	+9.7	+6.2	0.03″
7	40	25	+3.4	+5.8	0.29″	1.7″
8	40	25	+2.5	+5.4	0.01″	0.1″
9	36	18	-2.7	+4.5	0.07″	0.8″
10	31	18	-5.5	+3.5	0.15″	1.7″
11	36	8	-8.1	+2.4
12	43	14	-2.3	+2.0
13	48	18	+1.7	+2.0
14	48	25	+4.7	+2.2
15	51	22	+4.4	+2.4
16	48	22	+3.3	+2.4
17	43	21	-0.4	+2.3	T	T
18	49	16	-0.0	+2.1
19	56	25	+8.5	+2.5
20	58	29	+11.4	+2.9
21	56	29	+9.9	+3.2
22	52	23	+4.8	+3.3
23	51	15	-0.2	+3.2
24	59	18	+5.5	+3.3
25	60	24	+8.4	+3.5
26	56	36	+12.1	+3.8	0.03″	T	Record warm low
27	49	28	+4.8	+3.8	0.13″	T
28	51	14	-0.7	+3.7
29	54	17	+3.3	+3.7
30
31
AVGS/ TOTAL	AVG 47.7	AVG 21.9		AVG +3.7	1.19″	8.0″

DAILY DEP. – Departure from the long term daily average temperature

MON. DEP. – Cumulative departure from the long term monthly average temperature

PCPN – Precipitation

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January 2024 was overall milder and wetter than average. The average temperature was 29.0 degrees, 3.6 degrees above average, while the precipitation total was 1.03″, which was about 0.32″ above average. Most areas of the valley recorded about 0.70″ to 1.00″ of precipitation for the month, with a little more in the foothills.

The month was partially above average due to the milder than average lows, almost all in the second half of the month. The average low temperature for the month was 17.6 degrees (6.8 degrees above average), which was the 12th warmest for the month of January. 

The month started out dry and somewhat mild with highs in the mid 40s, but then turned colder and wetter starting on the 4th. For the next 10 days, there would be a snowstorm about every 2-3 days, as a series of four El Nino systems rolled through the region, bringing the bulk of the precipitation for the month. It also turned quite cold with a week of highs below 32 degrees from the 6th to the 12th, along with some sub zero lows. 

It dried out and warmed back up to above average from the 15th to the 20th, as highs climbed into the mid to upper 40s and lows ranged from 15 to 25. Starting on the 21st and continuing to the 27th, another series of El Nino storms moved through the region, but these were much weaker and milder with very light precipitation amounts.

A January thaw occurred during the last few days of the month as lots of sunshine helped to propel highs into the low to mid 50s. Almost all of the snow that fell during the month had melted by the last week of the month.

The warmest high for the month was 55 degrees on the 30th, while the coldest high was 24 degrees on the 12th. The warmest low was 30 degrees on the 24th, while the coldest low was -11 degrees on the 9th. No daily temperature or precipitation records were tied or set during the month.

Wind speeds overall were a bit below average for the month, especially during the last half of the month. There were just 2 days with gusts of 35 mph or higher. The day with the highest average wind speed was on the 15th, while the highest gust of 39 mph occurred on the 8th.

Here are the actual numbers for the month…

Average Temp . . . . 29.0 degrees, +3.6 degrees above average

Average High . . . . . 40.4 degrees, +0.4 degrees above average

Average Low . . . . . 17.6 degrees, +6.8 degrees above average

Total precip . . . . . . 1.03 inches, +0.32 inches above average

Total snowfall . . . . 13.8 inches, +5.6 inches above average

JAN 2024 DAILY DATA

DATE	HIGH	LOW	DAILY DEP.	MON. DEP.	PCPN	SNOW	REMARK
1	43	15	+5.4	+5.4
2	46	13	+6.3	+5.9
3	44	8	+3.3	+5.0
4	33	23	+5.0	+5.0	0.17″	2.3″
5	34	16	+1.4	+4.3	0.04″	0.6″	AM fog
6	31	11	-2.6	+3.1
7	26	14	-4.0	+2.1	0.21″	2.9″
8	29	1	-9.1	+0.7	0.13″	1.6″
9	27	-11	-17.0	-1.3
10	32	6	-6.3	-1.8
11	28	14	-4.2	-2.0	0.29″	4.6″
12	24	-3	-14.2	-3.0
13	35	17	+1.5	-2.6
14	42	25	+8.3	-1.9	0.12″	1.3″
15	41	24	+7.2	-1.3	T	T
16	38	16	+1.0	-1.1
17	43	13	+1.8	-0.9
18	45	26	+9.5	-0.4
19	45	19	+5.5	-0.1
20	48	21	+8.2	+0.4
21	38	27	+7.2	+0.7	0.02″	0.1″
22	44	26	+10.3	+1.1	T	T
23	47	26	+11.3	+1.6	T
24	48	30	+13.0	+2.0	0.01″	T
25	41	29	+7.9	+2.3	0.02″	0.2″
26	43	27	+7.4	+2.5	0.01″	0.1″
27	45	24	+6.8	+2.6	0.01″	0.1″
28	53	18	+8.0	+2.8
29	53	22	+10.1	+3.1
30	55	24	+11.6	+3.4
31	51	25	+9.6	+3.6
AVGS/ TOTAL	40.4	17.6	Month 29.0	Dep. +3.6	1.03″	13.8″

DAILY DEP. – Departure from the long term daily average temperature

MON. DEP. – Cumulative departure from the long term monthly average temperature

PCPN – Precipitation

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