Incoming front to bring cold temperatures

A strong cold front is expected to bring snow to northern New Mexico and send temperatures plunging throughout the state over the next few days.

Eastern New Mexico can expect its first hard freeze Thursday night and Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty with this system,” meteorologist Kerry Jones said. “But we’re pretty solid on the cold temperatures. ... Temperatures are going to drop substantially into Thursday.”

He said the state will be getting “a piece of a big weather system” that is organizing over the central Rockies and will drop southeast tonight.

Eastern New Mexico could see a few snow showers on Thursday or Friday, but accumulations are expected to be less than an inch.

Temperatures around Clovis-Portales, however, are expected to drop from the mid-70s today to the high-20s on Thursday night and Friday morning.

The high on Thursday will be in the low-40s, according to NWS, before warming to the 50s on Friday and 60s Saturday and Sunday.

Snow is expected to fall in the north-central and northeastern parts of the state late Wednesday through Thursday, and possibly linger into early Friday. Jones said some areas could receive up to 4 inches of snow.

“If we do see an impact, it will be up in Raton, near the Colorado border, or Red River,” Jones said.

The Albuquerque Journal contributed to this report.