I am only a short distance from the border, southwest mountains of NM. I have done some traveling in your area (but maby not near you, that is a big state!). The desert areas are a lot different from the mountains in climate even though they can be physically close.
We have 40 acres up on top of the White Mountains(NE corner) & it is always at least 12-20 degrees cooler up there. It is high desert but it sure is a lot greener too. They get a lot more rain than we do down here. I can't wait till we can move up there for good.
Tucson is a cooler & greener climate than we are here & they are only a little over an hr from us. Which I find really bizarre. They get more rain than we do too.