Dry weather, wind among concerns during New Mexico’s fire season

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- Crews continue to battle a fire near Cochiti Pueblo. As of Monday afternoon, it had burned 250 acres, and was 50% contained.

Assuming the fire lines hold, fire crews are confident evacuations will not be needed.

This area has been dealing with dry conditions. Wind also fueled the fire over the weekend.

New Mexico’s fire season is dependent on the weather.

"It’s going to depend on the storm systems we get across New Mexico," said Scott Overpeck, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. "We’ve seen recently with really strong westerly winds, very dry air in place. And so we’re expecting those kinds of systems to move across this spring, so it’s just gonna depend on those type of systems on what the fire weather will be."

The Climate Prediction Center recently released its three-month spring outlook. It predicts warmer than normal temperatures and below normal precipitation.