New Mexico Weather Radar Doppler


New Mexico might be considered a state that is arid and dry because of its location in the American Southwest, but there are tremendous monuments, mountains, and vistas to be seen there as well.

There are many areas that have wide open spaces for miles, filled only with the occasional ranch. One community, Vaughn, is so isolated and its population center is so small that its high school football team often only has 6 players total!

Despite the size of the state, there are just three dedicated New Mexico doppler radar stations that cover the state. Supplemental coverage is provided by stations in Texas and Arizona. The 47th state to join the Union, the first European settlements in the area occurred in the late 16th century. Acquired from Mexico as the result of the Mexican War in 1848, today New Mexico is a leading developer in energy solutions.

Here is a look at the three New Mexico doppler radar station locations as well:

Alamogordo: It is thought that humans of various cultures and societies have called this south central part of the state home for the last 11,000 years. Despite this level of history, however, most people today recognize the name of Alamogordo because of the Trinity test, which was the first test of an atomic bomb. In 1983, the Great Atari Video Game Burial also occurred here at the local landfill, where it is thought that several million copies of the official ET video game were buried by Atari.

Located near White Sands, today Alamogordo offers modern facilities and even has a zoo for visitors to browse. Founded in the late 19th century and incorporated in 1912, today about 30,000 people call this town home.

Albuquerque: For excellent weather conditions, there may be no better city year-round than Albuquerque. It is known as the “Hot Air Balloon Capital of the World” because of its reliability to provide excellent weather conditions. The month of October, in fact, is the only month of the year that has less than a 70% chance of sunshine every day! Even though New Mexico doppler radar might not get a workout in this city of almost a million people, it still serves an important function to let residents know if a weather event is about to occur.

Albuquerque is also one of the greenest cities in the country and has been recognized by several leading publications about their emphasis to keep open spaces open. The famous Route 66 was commissioned in New Mexico to connect several communities and this road was paved in 1937 as it connected the East and West of the country together.

Cannon AFB: Located near Clovis, NM, Cannon AFB holds the final New Mexico doppler radar station and is the home to several special operations units. It was initially founded as an Army Base in 1942 and then transitioned into an Air Force Base after the Army intended to close it after the war. It truly became active during the Cold War period. Many of the units that were deployed in Vietnam originated from this base.

It’s location near the Texas border makes it the perfect place to have a weather station. The area may be sparsely populated, but this station provides information for what would otherwise be a coverage gap in the national map of doppler radar data.