weather

Hi, I am planning a visit to ABQ and Santa Fe. I am wondering when%26#39;s a good time to visit both cities? I have early April in mind but read about possible windy/dust storms from the forum. How about mid June? Would appreciate any suggestions for an itinerary also.

weather

In Santa Fe today the winds have been blowing most of the day but we have clear skies and warm 70 degrees. Sometime in early April we get wind, sometimes not. Sometimes there is snow! Any time from end of April to mid June is wonderful! By mid May many flowers and shrubs are blooming and the chance of frost is past. www.santafe.org

Albuquerque usually is warmer earlier in the spring. www.itsatrip.org

Here%26#39;s a basic week long trip:

Day 1 arrive in Albuquerque. Stay in Abq near Old Town. Visit the plaza, museums, shops etc. Little Anitas is a great place for Northern NM dining. I was just in Old Town last weekend and felt that the plaza there was much more quaint than the one in Santa Fe.

Day 2 Visit Petroglyph Nat Mon and Acoma Pueblo. Also Pueblo Cultural Center museum, Abq Museum and even the Rattlesnake Museum.

Day 3 Sandia Tram and maybe a stay at one of the casino hotels either Sandia Resort or Santa Ana Tamaya Resort. If you are into golf some great courses.

Day 4 Drive up to Santa Fe. Try to stay near the plaza, many hotels, b%26amp;b%26#39;s and casitas. Inn of the Governors is a nice small hotel. Great museums and restaurants. Check on The state museums are closed on Mondays, so don%26#39;t plan on them for that day.

Day 5 Head to Bandelier Nat Mon near Los Alamos. Also the Bradbury Science Museum is there. Maybe early dinner at Gabriels on the way back to Santa Fe, great food!

Day 6 Day trip to Taos via Chimayo and the High Road. Visit their and seen Taos Pueblo. Return to Santa Fe via the River Road.

Day 7 Visit around Santa Fe. Drive up to Hyde Memorial State Park for a hike, continue on to the ski area. Also Pecos Nat Mon is east of Santa Fe, another great place to visit.

Day 8 Depart from Abq.

weather

Predicting weather these days with any degree of certainty is pretty tough.

Example: We are currently having one of the driest and warmest winters in the last 100 years. The last two winters before this one were two of the wettest and coldest in the last 50 years.

Our weather can be extraordinarily localized and different in very small geographical areas.

Example: I live 18 miles from downtown Santa Fe which averages 16 inches of precip per year and I live 16 miles from Los Alamos which averages 18 inches per year. In our local area, we average 10 inches.

April can be a little blustery, but it can also be very pleasant. You could see low 70%26#39;s one day and 40%26#39;s the next.

Typical spring like most places.

One very nice thing about our area is that bad weather comes in and gets out pretty quick. We just don%26#39;t get extended periods of anything but nice weather which dominates here about 9 months per year.

We%26#39;re already seeing several inches of growth on some of our early blooming flowers like tulips, crocus, iris, lilacs, euphorbia, etc.

June is one of our warmest and driest months on average. We will easily go several weeks in a row in June with single digit humidity. Thats pretty arid.

But coming from the Bay area, you might find it a nice change of pace.

One upside is that a lot of our big events, art festivals, opera, etc.. don%26#39;t get cranked up until early July, so the visitor numbers are usually down a little in June. Less crowds to contend with.