ABC-7 First Alert: A Welcome Weather Shift Is Finally Arriving in El Paso

After flirting with 100 degrees at the El Paso International Airport on both Friday and Saturday, the weather pattern is finally beginning to change. We’re not quite ready to call it “cool,” but temperatures will be trending downward this week, and the bigger story may be the return of much-needed rain chances.

The upper-level ridge of high pressure that has kept the region hot and dry for much of the summer has shifted east and is now centered over the Southeast. Its circulation will help draw additional moisture northward from Mexico, setting the stage for scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms from this evening through much of the coming week.

As moisture increases, high temperatures will steadily decline. By Thursday and Friday, afternoon temperatures should be near—or, perhaps even a little below—seasonal averages. That trend is expected to continue into the weekend.

For El Paso’s lowlands, that could mean highs in the 80s from Thursday through the weekend. That’s something we haven’t experienced consistently since early June, making the coming stretch a welcome change after a long run of summer heat.

But the increased moisture comes with a downside: Thunderstorms could produce locally heavy rainfall in a short amount of time.

For now, enjoy the change. After weeks of heat and dryness, El Paso is finally getting a taste of something different: fewer triple-digit afternoons, increasing clouds and thunderstorms, and perhaps even a few days that feel more like fall is waiting just around the corner.