NM Border Air Quality Blog

Jan. 22 - Mild day with above normal temperatures. It started out with a low of 27F at the NMSU coop and had a high of 68F (8.8F above the normal). At the Las Cruces Airport the low was 28 and high of 70F. We had a few breezes in the afternoon with a maximum wind speed of 17 mph, gusting to 23 mph at 3:15 pm at the Las Cruces Airport.

The afternoon MODIS swath showed low AOD in our region.

 

We had good air quality in the region at all the stations in NM. Here is a survey of a few. At the NMED Chaparral station PM10 peaked in the morning 83 µg/m3 at 9 am but remained low the rest of the day.

 

Winds were around where we sometimes see wind erosion but concentrations were low in Deming.

At the NMED Sunland Park Desert View station PM was highest just after midnight and at 10 am but only made it to 124 µg/m3 of PM10 and 11 µg/m3 of PM2.5.

 At the NMED Anthony site PM10 ranged from 34 to 98 µg/m3 by 9 pm.

 

The weather forecast for Sunday is calling for temperatures in the mid to upper 50s with breezy conditions in the western part of the study region including Lordsburg (between 17-20 mph, gusts to 32 mph) but less wind in Las Cruces. The AQI forecast for Sunday is in the good (green) range.