skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NM Residents Wait for Snow in Shirtsleeves

play audio
Play

Monday, November 20, 2017   

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Winter is weeks away but fall is just arriving in New Mexico, with a La Niña weather pattern expected to leave the state high and dry this winter.

Albuquerque's high temperature of 73 degrees last Friday was the warmest on record for that date, and Santa Fe is experiencing similar above-normal readings. Meanwhile, meteorologist Todd Shoemake with the National Weather Service said the first freeze in Albuquerque has typically come around Halloween, but this year didn’t occur until Nov. 18 - one day earlier than in 2016.

"Bottom line is, right now with La Nina taking shape, we are expecting a drier than normal winter, so less snowfall overall and more of a warmer-than-normal winter as well,” Shoemake said. "We've certainly kind of seen that as we've just kind of stepped into fall now."

Most of New Mexico has warmed at least 1 degree Fahrenheit in the last century - a change that is leaving its mark on the Southwest with drying streams, larger and more severe wildfires, droughts and large-scale forest dieback. The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center says New Mexico has a 40-60 percent chance of higher than average temperatures from December through February.

New Mexico's growing season differs considerably because of the large variation in elevation. But Shoemake said it seems clear something has changed when summer vegetables are still growing in November.

"Anecdotally, my colleagues, you know, were pulling tomatoes off their gardens yesterday just because they knew it was going to finally freeze, and that's just absurd,” he said. "So the growing season, I think is - I don't want to say it's fully been extended, but it certainly does kind of have an impact."

The Thanksgiving holiday will draw skiers to New Mexico's resorts this week, but man-made snow will have to substitute for what Mother Nature normally provides. Only a few inches of snow have fallen around the northern mountains so far this season.

Since the 1950s, the snowpack has been decreasing in New Mexico as well as in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, and experts say it will eventually shorten the season for skiing and other forms of winter tourism and recreation.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021