October 23, 2026

New Mexico is the region's item, with a second straight day of flooding rain and a chance of severe storms.

The Storm Prediction Center has a slight risk of severe thunderstorms across portions of New Mexico today into tonight, meaning scattered severe storms are possible. Hail is the main threat, with damaging gusts and a tornado or two possible. The Weather Prediction Center has a slight risk of excessive rainfall from far West Texas into southern and central New Mexico, covering the Sacramento Mountains, with a broader marginal risk over much of the state. It says the places most likely to flash flood are steep terrain, burn scars, and urban areas.

Flood warnings remain in effect this morning for Rio Arriba County and for San Juan County in northwest New Mexico, where the San Juan County warning runs until 9 PM Saturday. Flood watches cover the northwest and west central highlands and the Jemez Mountains through tonight. If you live below a burn scar, know your way to higher ground before storms start this afternoon.

In Texas, air quality alerts are in effect today for the Dallas and Fort Worth area and for the Houston and Galveston area. In Oklahoma, an air quality alert covers the Oklahoma City metro until 3:15 PM.

Arkansas and Louisiana have no alerts in effect.

New Mexico has a federal major disaster declaration from October 7 for severe storms and flooding that includes Individual Assistance for households. Oklahoma has one from the same date for severe storms and straight-line winds, covering public assistance only. Check disasterassistance.gov if you had damage in a designated New Mexico county.

The air quality alerts in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Galveston, and Oklahoma City are the region's public health item. An air quality alert means pollution is expected to reach levels unhealthy for sensitive groups: people with asthma or other lung conditions, older adults, and children. If that describes someone in your household, keep strenuous outdoor activity to the morning and keep a rescue inhaler handy.

Food recalls posted by the Food and Drug Administration this week include Gelatelli coffee and vanilla gelato sold at Lidl for possible Listeria, Starfish Seafood cold smoked salmon for possible Listeria, and Family Farmstead raw mild cheddar cheese for possible E. coli. The full list, with lot codes, is at fda.gov/recalls.

Two sources we check could not be read this morning: the CDC Health Alert Network, for national health advisories, and AirNow, for air quality readings. Check emergency.cdc.gov/han and airnow.gov directly.

Saturday continues the pattern. The Storm Prediction Center has severe wind, hail, and a tornado possible from central New Mexico into far West Texas, and the Weather Prediction Center's Day 2 outlook carries a slight risk of excessive rainfall from West Texas through eastern New Mexico into southern Colorado and far western Kansas.

Next week, the Weather Prediction Center expects more rounds of rain and thunderstorms across the south-central U.S. If you live along an arroyo or a low water crossing, the most useful thing to do this weekend is learn which roads near you close first when water runs.

The National Weather Service in Tulsa puts the city's average first freeze on November 3, so northeast Oklahoma is about ten days from its usual first frost.