Heavy Snow — Johnson and Bartlett Mesas Including Raton Pass, New Mexico

2023-01-20 to 2023-01-21 · Johnson and Bartlett Mesas Including Raton Pass, New Mexico

Event narrative

Heavy snow impacted the zone with a trained spotter northeast of Folsom reporting 10 inches of snow. The heavy snow also caused I-25 to be closed at Raton Pass.

Wider weather episode

A closed upper low crossed northern New Mexico on January 20, 2023 and exited over the Great Plains on January 21, 2023. Heavy snow was observed at numerous locations resulting in several road closures, including on Interstates 25 and 40. Weather related car crashes also resulted, including a flipped snow plow on NM Highway 4 just west of Los Alamos. Strong northerly winds behind the upper low also brought reports of blowing snow through far northeastern NM on January 21, 2023 from Raton to Clayton. This resulted in very low visibility and resulted in the closure of U.S. Highway 64 at Clayton.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1067126. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.