Steve Stucker Explains the Recent Night Winds in Albuquerque

“When the cold air pushes up against the central mountains (Sandias/Manzanos) it is sort of like hitting a wall, or an air dam, thus the wind gets forced into and through the little passes, gaps and canyons in the mountains, causing breezy to wind conditions in ABQ.”

If you’re always awake in the early morning hours like I am you may have noticed it’s been consistently blustery as of late. After puzzling over this windy situation night after night, I decided to ask my favorite local weatherman to give me the scoop. Here’s the e-mail I sent to KOB Eyewitness News 4 co-anchor Steve Stucker yesterday:

“Hello Mr. Stucker,

“I hope this message find you well and enjoying this hot Thursday. I have a question that I bet you can answer. I'm wondering why it's been getting windy every night for the past week or so. Is it some seasonal phenomenon? Feel free to call me or just respond to this e-mail. Thanks!”

Here is Steve’s prompt and knowledgeable response, sent yesterday evening:

“ Hey Jessica,

“I was explaining this on air early this morning.

“We have just had a prevailing "pattern" that keeps pushing cold fronts from the NE corner of NM towards the central and SW.

“We call these "back door fronts" because most fronts come from the west or northwest. When the cold air pushes up against the central mountains (Sandias/Manzanos) it is sort of like hitting a wall, or an air dam, thus the wind gets forced into and through the little passes, gaps and canyons in the mountains, causing breezy to wind conditions in ABQ. It wasn't windy everywhere this morning, ABQ had the strongest winds in the state. The pattern is just a combination of the placement of high pressure and low pressure, and until we get a big "kicker"—some big system that moves through and knocks these little systems out of our area—the same basic pattern will continue for the next week or so at least, not windy every night, but every few. Friday night is probably our next big blow. God bless.....ss “

And now we know more about the fascinating world of weather in the state of New Mexico. Thanks, Steve Stucker!