A major winter storm is moving into New Mexico Wednesday. This storm will bring major to extreme impacts through Friday, with feet of snow falling in parts of the state.
A significant, early winter storm is starting in New Mexico. Snow coverage and intensity will be increasing through Wednesday night. Areas that will start to see the biggest impacts will be the East Mountains to Santa Rosa, the northern mountains including Los Alamos, and the I-25 corridor from Santa Fe to Colorado, along with northeast New Mexico. These areas will be seeing the heaviest snowfall tonight as a strong cold front pushes south and west across the state. Snow could reduce visibility to just a hundred feet, and winds could cause near-blizzard conditions. Snow in western New Mexico could also cause travel problems along I-40 overnight. In Albuquerque, a strong east canyon wind develops tonight, with gusts as high as 50 mph through Thursday morning. This wind though will cause the infamous “Albuquerque Snow Hole.” This means that a lot of Albuquerque may stay snow-free Thursday until winds die down Thursday night. However, the Foothills, West Mesa, and Rio Rancho could see 2-6″ of snow. A trace to 4″ is likely around Albuquerque through Friday night.
Heavy snow will continue in northern, northeastern, and east-central New Mexico through the day Thursday. Extremely heavy snowfall is likely along I-25 from Santa Fe to Colorado and the East Mountains and I-40 corridor from Tijeras to Santa Rosa where major to extreme impacts will be felt. Highway and interstate closures are likely. Heavy snow could cause power outages. There is even a threat of roof collapse with the heavy, wet snow. This storm will continue to sit and spin over the state through the day Friday before slowly lifting north of New Mexico Friday night. Snow intensity will be lighter on Friday, but it will continue to steadily come down, so while impacts will be lower, there will still be some major impacts across the state as a result of the snow and cold.
Once all is said and done, Las Vegas could see as much as 36″ of snow with this storm. Up to 4′ of snow is possible in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, with up to 2′ in the Sandias/Manzanos, Jemez, and San Juan Mountains. A few inches to a foot of snow is likely in the Sacramentos. Over 2′ of snow is possible around Clines Corners, along with Raton and northeast New Mexico. Several inches are also likely in Santa Fe and the Upper Rio Grande Valley. Some parts of the state could set snowfall records with this storm. It is a serious storm that will have life-threatening impacts for some.
Quieter weather returns this weekend with drier weather sticking around into next week. Temperatures will also start a slow warming trend this weekend.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
