It’s the first day of Fall in Albuquerque. We officially begin Fall at 12:19 p.m. today. So, we are almost exactly equal parts daylight and darkness with the sun right over the equator.
If you’re schooling the kids at home, here is a great feature form the National Weather Service on the Fall Equinox.
And this also means that the first freeze of the season is not far off. A low temperature of 31 or 32 degrees for a short period of time, say less than two hours, probably will not harm most plants or crops. But if the temperature drops to 28 or 29 degrees for a few hours, most vegetation will be damaged. So what are the dates for each?
Average first freeze of 32 degrees is:
- Nov 3 for ABQ
- Santa Fe Oct 15
- Los Lunas October 21.
First Hard Freeze of 28 degrees is:
- For ABQ, Nov 15
- Santa Fe October 15
- Los Lunas October 31
Check out other freeze dates from cities around the state here.
See When Fall Colors Peak In This Fall Foliage Prediction Map
You may have already started to see some tinges of color, but with these toasty temps and fall more than a week away, when will fall colors peak? For most of Northwest and Northcentral New Mexico, the peak should be by the second week of Oct and by the third week for central and northeast New Mexico. (Be sure to move the date bubble at the bottom to watch how it changes.)
Check out this really cool map that shows the peak times everywhere!