ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The heat is on, but how soon will it hit 100 degrees or over in Albuquerque? KRQE News 13 meteorologists say it could be soon, and historical data backs that.
Over the last decade, Albuquerque has seen 100-degree weather at least a few times a year. That's according to temperatures measured at the Albuquerque Sunport.
Last year, the Sunport saw 17 days over 100 degrees, but none of those were in June.
June, however, does occasionally bring 100-degree heat in Albuquerque. It reached 103 on June 11, 2021, and in 2022, there were two days in June above 100 degrees, data from the National Weather Service shows.
Is it getting hotter sooner?
Looking at historical data, the maximum of the daily high temperatures for June has increased slightly since the early 2000s. In other words, On average, June brings more 100-degree or hotter days.
But there is variation from year to year. For example, 2013 brought a 105-degree day in June, but the next year, the highest June temperature was only 100 at the Sunport, the data shows.
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Data from the National Weather Service shows the maximum temperature reached each June at the Albuquerque Sunport. Blue dotted line shows trendline over time.
Overall, Albuquerque sees the most 100-degree or hotter days between June 21 and July 3, the National Weather Service says. Since 1939, the temperature reached 100 degrees most often on June 28, the weather service says.
And there is a broader trend of warming in New Mexico. "There's a lot of data that backs up and shows that summers, especially here in New Mexico, have been getting hotter, especially since about the 1970s," KRQE News 13 Chief Meteorologist Grant Tosterud says. "Temperatures here in New Mexico are about three and a half degrees warmer compared to the summers we saw fifty years ago."
But it's not just hot daytime temperatures. "One of the biggest contributing factors," Tosterud says, "is actually warmer temperatures overnight."