Weather & Climate

A firefighting plane flies over a plume of smoke near Las Vegas, N.M. on Wednesday, May 4, 2022. The fire has torched 250 square miles (647 square kilometers) over the last several weeks.

President declares disaster in New Mexico wildfire zone

May 5, 2022, 8:02am Nation & World

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — Firefighters slowed the advance of the largest wildfire in the U.S. as heavy winds relented Wednesday, while President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration that brings new financial resources to remote stretches of New Mexico devastated by fire since early April. Read story

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Weather Eye: More cool weather is on Clark County’s horizon

May 5, 2022, 6:01am Clark County News

Ready for days of rain? Wednesday had a delightful high of 74 degrees as of 5 p.m., but we will have to wait a while longer for a repeat. Read story

A road winds through the snow-covered Rocky Mountains at Hoosier Pass as seen from the air, Monday, April 18, 2022, near Blue River, Colo. Some drought-prone communities in the U.S. West are mapping snow by air to refine their water forecasts. It's one way water managers are adjusting as climate change disrupts weather patterns and makes current forecasting methods less reliable.

Western cities map snow by air to refine water forecasting

May 4, 2022, 5:40pm Latest News

At a tiny airport surrounded by mountains, a three-person crew takes off for the inaugural flight above the headwaters of the Colorado River to measure the region’s snow by air. Read story

A slurry bomber dumps the fire retardant between the Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Fire and homes on the westside of Las Vegas, N.M., Tuesday, May 3, 2022. Several types of aircraft joined the fight to keep the fire away for the Northern New Mexico town.

Fire crews take stand against destructive New Mexico blaze

May 4, 2022, 11:35am Nation & World

With flames marching across wide swaths of northeastern New Mexico's tinder-dry forests, firefighters were taking a stand Wednesday in their fight against the largest wildfire burning in the U.S. to keep it from pushing any closer to the town of Las Vegas and other villages scattered along the fire's shifting… Read story

Chris Castillo throws a freshly-cut log as he and his cousins clear a wireline along a family member's home in Las Vegas, N.M., Monday, May 2, 2022. Wind-whipped flames are marching across more of New Mexico's tinder-dry mountainsides, forcing the evacuation of area residents and dozens of patients from the state's psychiatric hospital as firefighters scramble to keep new wildfires from growing.

Wildfire in northeastern New Mexico expected to keep growing

May 3, 2022, 8:02am Nation & World

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — The fire burning pine forests about 10 miles away from Priscilla Crespin’s home is the largest wildfire in the U.S. and the first to force the 81-year-old to leave the small northeastern New Mexico community where she has spent nearly all her life. Read story

Weather Eye: Showers, unsettled weather forecast through weekend

Did you enjoy those April, excuse me, I mean May showers Monday? Feels like they were a carryover from last month. We need to change the rhythm for sure. Today showers end and we inch upward into the low 60s, still below average but with a warmer air mass Wednesday… Read story

Wind-whipped fire forces more New Mexico residents to flee

In this photo provided by the New Mexico National Guard, a New Mexico National Guard Aviation UH-60 Black Hawk flies as part of firefighting efforts, dropping thousands of gallons of water with Bambi buckets from the air on the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire in northern New Mexico on Sunday, May, 1, 2022. Thousands of firefighters are battling destructive wildfires in the Southwest as more residents are preparing to evacuate.

Wind-whipped flames raced Monday across more of New Mexico’s tinder-dry mountainsides, after forcing more residents to flee their homes while firefighting crews elsewhere in the drought-parched state tried to prevent new wildfires from growing. Read story

Unprecedented restrictions ordered as Southern California’s Metropolitan Water District declares water shortage emergency

Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet, California. Diamond Valley Lake is a major drinking water source for 18 million Southern Californians. On April 26, 2022, the Metropolitan Water District declared a water shortage emergency and moved to restrict outdoor watering to just once a week in parts of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, as well as certain areas of the Inland Empire.

Southern California officials on Tuesday took the unprecedented step of declaring a water shortage emergency and ordering outdoor usage be restricted to just one day a week for about 6 million people in parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties. Read story