THE LAST DAY OF JANUARY, IT SHOULDN'T BE THIS DRY ON SANDIA CREST.

WE ARE CATCHING A VIEW OF ALBUQUERQUE AND RIO GRANDE WITH KERRY JONES ON A RED FLAG WARNING DAY.

JONES IS A WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST WITH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

WE ARE UP AT JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOVE 10,000 FEET AND KIND OF IN THE WORLD OF WEATHER THIS IS HIGH ALTITUDE, YOU KNOW.

WE ARE UP THERE.

AND SO, REALLY, FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR, WE SHOULD BE NOT ON BARE GROUND AS WE ARE TODAY BUT SEVERAL FEET OF SNOW.

OUR SNOW ACCUMULATION SEASON BEGINS LATE OCTOBER, EARLY NOVEMBER WHEN YOU TYPICALLY START SEEING THE INITIAL SNOW PACK DEVELOP AND THEN YOU START BUILDING FROM THERE.

WHETHER YOU COME TO THE CREST TO HIKE OR SKI IN THE WINTER OR JUST LIKE LOOKING AT THE MOUNTAINS WHEN COVERED IN WHITE, THE AMOUNT OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS EVERY WINTER IS CRUCIAL FOR ALL NEW MEXICANS.

WE ACTUALLY HAD A PRETTY DECENT START.

THE FIRST WEEK OF OCTOBER, WE HAD SOME RAIN IN ALBUQUERQUE AND IT WASN'T TOO HORRIBLE, BUT, NOW, WE ARE STANDING AT THE DRIEST, THE DRIEST START TO ANY WATER YEAR ON RECORD IN THE OBSERVATIONAL PERIOD WHICH GOES BACK TO THE LATE 1890'S.

AND SO THERE IS NO ONE ALIVE TODAY THAT HAS SEEN IT DRYER FOR ANY START TO A WATER YEAR.

FARMERS RELY ON SNOW MELT FOR IRRIGATION IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER.

AND DRY MOUNTAIN CONDITIONS INCREASE THE RISK OF DEVASTATING WILDFIRES.

AND THE ONE THING A HEAVY SNOW DOES HERE IN THE SANDIAS AND ALL ACROSS NORTHERN NEW MEXICO IS IT MATS DOWN THE FINE FUEL, THE FINE DEAD FUEL, THE GRASSES.

THAT IS WHAT CARRIES FIRE.

AND, SO, WHEN THAT HEAVY SNOW PACK IS NOT PRESENT, AND EVEN FIT IT MELTS OUT, THE GRASSES ARE MATTED DOWN AND COMPACTED TO THE GROUND AND THEY DON'T CARRY FIRE AS WELL.

WELL, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE SNOW AS IS THE CASE THIS YEAR, IF WE HAD FIRES, LIGHTNING STARTS HERE IN ANOTHER COUPLE OF MONTHS, THE FIRE DANGER IS REALLY GOES UP AS A RESULT OF NOT HAVING THE SNOW.

IT IS STILL POSSIBLE FOR STORMS TO BRING SOME SNOW TO THE SANDIAS AND OTHER MOUNTAINS IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO THIS SPRING, BUT JONES SAYS IT IS UNLIKELY ANY NEW SNOW MAKES UP FOR THE EXISTING DEFICIT.

WE WOULD BASICALLY NEED TWO-AND-A-HALF TIMES OUR NORMAL PRECIPITATION FOR NORTHERN NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHERN COLORADO TO EVEN BRING US BACK WHERE WE SHOULD BE THIS TIME OF YEAR.

AND, THAT IS OBVIOUSLY NOT IN THE CARDS, BUT THAT IS JUST A NUMBER THAT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, JUST A TREMENDOUS DEFICIT TO OVERCOME.

TWO-AND-A-HALF TIMES NORMAL PRECIP WHICH WOULD BE PRETTY UNPRECEDENTED TO HAVE THAT STRETCH BETWEEN NOW AND END OF MARCH, EARLY APRIL.

EVEN THOUGH IT IS STILL WINTER, RIGHT NOW, NEW MEXICANS NEED TO BE LOOKING AHEAD, THINKING ABOUT WILDFIRE SEASON.

ALREADY THIS YEAR, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED RED FLAG WARNINGS, MONTHS AND MONTHS EARLIER THAN USUAL.

IN NEW MEXICO, WE ARE KNOWN FOR WINDY SPRING TIMES AND SO, WE CAN ALMOST COUNT ON DAYS LIKE WE ARE HAVING TODAY, YOU KNOW.

THIS IS A PRETTY TYPICAL SPRING DAY BUT WHEN YOU COMPOUND THAT WITH THE DRYNESS, THE LACK OF SNOW COVER, THE VERY, YOU KNOW, WARM WINDY DRY DAYS, WITH DRY FUEL, THOSE ARE DAYS WHERE YOU JUST ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO BE CAREFUL.

WE SAY ONE LESS SPARK AND LITERALLY, THAT IS ALL IT TAKES IS ONE SPARK, BE IT FROM A CHAIN SAW, A CHAIN DRIVING BEHIND A VEHICLE OR A TRAILER, ANYTHING LIKE THAT ON A DAY LIKE THIS IN SPRING COULD SPELL DISASTER.

KERRY JONES SAYS ANTICIPATING THESE DRY CONDITIONS AND WATCHING OUT FOR HAZARDS ON YOUR PROPERTY AND NEIGHBOR'S PROPERTY ARE A FEW OF THE WAYS NEW MEXICANS CAN START TO PREPARE FOR NEW CLIMATE REALITY.

FOR NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS AND OUR LAND, I AM LAURA PASKUS.