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My family came to Albuquerque last week and will stay here until the end of August. We stay at a place near Paseo Del Norte, east of I-25. My spouse drives our only car to work daily, and I ride a bicycle to send my preschooler to her school in the morning and pick her up around 4:30pm. The school is less than 2 miles away along a bike path.
In the peak of monsoon season, does it rain and lightning everyday in the afternoon? What time of the day does the rain usually start? We are prepared to ride in the rain but I am kind of scared of lightning. Is the monsoon pretty predictable? Will we know at least a day in advance that the monsoon will come? If that's the case, I might ask my spouse to take a bus to work on those monsoon days.
The lightning is more consistent than the rain. Depends on what part of town you're in, but about 3pm it starts and it can go for either a few hours or all night.
Lightning deaths, while more frequent in NM than the national average, are still quite uncommon, and tend to occur when it is raining cats and dogs, which the monsoons rarely do. Lightning is much more likely to strike a tree or a building than a person in urban/suburban Albuquerque. Open fields (or perhaps pools) tend to be the most dangerous places to be, and we don't have too many of those involving bicyclists.
The monsoon is pretty consistent. Expect it, enjoy it. It's part of Albuquerque's magic and why August, for me, is the best month here. I'd fear spiders more than lightning here.
And I'd definitely fear motorists more than lightning if I was a bicyclist.
No, it will not rain every day (I wish!). The forecast will show you if the monsoonal flow of moisture is over ABQ or not on any given day. The showers themselves are hit or miss, it might rain a few blocks away from you but not on you.
I was a bike commuter in Albuquerque for many years. There were only a couple of times each summer that I got caught in the rain going home from work around 5:00 (a 3 mile ride). Usually the storms are over quickly so you can wait them out. With a little one waiting you'll want to be on time though.
I do know someone who was struck by lightning on a bike trail in ABQ. He survived. This year is supposed to be an active monsoon season, so take precautions (have some light rain gear ready). You will be able to tell yourself by the cloud build-ups in the afternoon whether it is likely to rain.
Hopefully it will rain and not do like some past years where the humidity built, clouds formed, and moisture disappated before it ever came near the ground.
My daughter is going to a summer session now. It will last until the last week of July. Then, the actual school starts in August. But, in preschool, she probably plays most of the days.
FWIW, from what I've seen since I moved here, most of the lightning seems to be sort of a sheet effect, arcing left to right or from top down but not really hitting the ground. I know there's a scientific term, but I have no idea what it is. It just seems our lightning doesn't 'target' things as much as the lightning I experienced in Dallas and Tampa. Of course, this is only an opinion.
Lightning? Not bad, not like the lightning I have experienced in the deep south, mid atlantic, and midwest. Not even close.
The biggest problem is localized, flash flooding. You will want to be aware of low spots - underpasses - and areas where water accumulates in sudden heavy rainstorms.
It doesn't rain every day during monsoon season. There is a daily threat of rain, but it doesn't always materialize.
Last edited by Westbound and Down; 06-04-2015 at 09:06 AM..
I'm planning on spending a few days in Albuquerque this summer. I see that August you have the most rain.
August has an average of 1.5 inches of rain. That's pretty light as compared to 1 average summer day in Florida.
How bad is the rain storms? Do you get windstorms? I see the high temps can be in the 90's but I'm sure since it's dry it's pretty nice.
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Summer Visit? When is Monsoon?
