Rain in the forecast but weather bodes well for Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
Sep. 28—Rains will pour down this week — in some areas hard — but they shouldn't stop the myriad multicolored hot air balloons from floating up en masse at the weekend extravaganza in Albuquerque.
Cool, wet weather will douse parts of New Mexico as back-to-back storm systems move through the state in the next several days, National Weather Service meteorologists forecast Monday.
Santa Fe and Albuquerque have an 80 percent chance of rain Thursday and Friday, but the rain probability for Albuquerque will drop to 30 percent Saturday, which bodes well for the nine-day International Balloon Fiesta that kicks off this weekend.
Temperatures during the week could drop 15 degrees below normal for early fall.
The storms passing through the region will leave behind heavier-than-normal moisture that could feed more storms next week — a wetting trend that will help dampen the state's extended drought, meteorologists said.
"By and large, kind of a wet fall pattern, which we've needed because September has been pretty dry, so we certainly could use the precipitation over much of the state," meteorologist Scott Overpeck said.
The first storm system, moving northeast toward Colorado, is set to arrive Tuesday and cause pockets of heavy rainfall, including in parts of Northern New Mexico, meteorologist Daniel Porter said.
A lull will occur Wednesday before the next storms hit, possibly with thunder and lightning. Those should dissipate by late Friday, leaving light, scattered rains through the weekend, Overpeck said.
That means the week's storms probably will blow through in time to spare the panoply of hot air balloons scheduled to go airborne at the fiesta — including the early morning "Dawn Patrol" carrying paid riders.
Hundreds of balloons will soar daily in a morning mass ascension, in which the goal is for as many as possible to continue circling over Balloon Fiesta Park.
The Balloon Fiesta has its own team of meteorologists who monitor the weather and especially keep an eye on winds that might play havoc with the balloons, spokesman Tom Garrity said.
As the weekend draws closer, the team will be able to forecast the weather with greater accuracy, he said.
Even if there's some inclement weather, an event might be postponed for only an hour.
Garrity said he can recall only once in 20 years when the weather was so bad events were canceled a day in advance and seldom has a full day's worth of events been canceled.
"It's a rarity whenever a cancellation occurs," he said.
