to
Update
is a city in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,267. The population was 89,722 as of the 2007 census estimate, making it the second largest city in the state. Las Cruces is the center of an agricultural region irrigated by the Rio Grande, which flows just west of the city. The city of Las Cruces bisects the fertile Mesilla Valley, the flood plain of the Rio Grande which extends from Hatch, New Mexico to the west side of El Paso, Texas. Las Cruces is also the home of New Mexico State University. NMSU is New Mexico's only land grant university, citing more than 16,000 graduate and undergraduate students on the main campus. As well as the Organ Mountains that are to the east of the city, the Las Cruces area is also in close proximity to the Dona Ana mountains, the Robledo mountains, and Picacho peak. Las Cruces has a council-manager form of government. It is the county seat of Doña Ana County.
Las Cruces is classified as an arid, subtropical climate, with evapotranspiration being over twice the average precipitation. Winters alternate between cool and windy weather following trough and frontal passages, with warm, sunny periods in between; light frosts occur many nights. Spring months are warm and can be windy, particularly in the afternoons, sometimes causing periods of blowing dust and short-lived dust storms. Summers begin with hot weather, with some extended periods of over weather not uncommon, while the latter half of the summer seeing increased humidity and frequent afternoon thunderstorms, with slightly lower daytime temperatures. Autumns quickly cool into warm to mild weather, and precipitation decreases.
Precipitation is often light from fall to spring, with some winter storm systems bringing steady precipitation to the Las Cruces area. Most winter moisture is in the form of rain, though some light snow falls most winters, usually enough to accumulate and stay on the ground for a few hours, at most. Warm season precipitation is often from heavy showers, especially from the late summer monsoon weather pattern.