Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CLOVIS — Recent days across eastern New Mexico have seen the heat of July, with a little bit of cooling from the rains.
This week brings more of the former, and very little chance of the latter with triple-digit highs predicted through Monday by the National Weather Service.
Today’s expected high is 98 degrees for Clovis, with the next five days predicted past the century mark — 103 on Thursday, 102 on Friday, 103 on Saturday and 104 both Sunday and Monday.
Other areas of southeast New Mexico will see even hotter temperatures, with Roswell expecting a high of 104 today and highs between 106 and 108 the next five days. Tucumcari will see highs of 107 on both Saturday and Sunday, and highs between 103 and 106 the other days.
Don’t bet on precipitation, with the region having 10% chances Thursday and Monday and none on any other days.
Xcel Energy is warning area customers to take measures to keep cool while avoiding energy usage spikes.
“July and August are almost always the peak demand months for electricity in our Texas-New Mexico service area,” said Brad Baldridge, Xcel’s director for customer and community relations in Texas and New Mexico. “We could see even higher demand this year, especially from residential customers, because of the predicted extreme heat and the fact that more of us are at home than in past summers.”
Recommendations include installing weather stripping and smart thermostats, closing blinds and drapes to block sunlight and opening interior doors to let cool air circulate and putting off activities like cooking and clothes drying until after 7 p.m.
