Heavy Snow — Lower Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

2023-01-23 to 2023-01-24 · Lower Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

Event narrative

Heavy snow impacted the central and southern portions of the zone where the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge reported 4.3 inches of snow. Other reports ranged from 2 to 3 inches of snow.

Wider weather episode

A closed upper low dove south over AZ before turning eastward over NM on January 23, 2023. A strong influx of southeasterly to easterly winds filled into eastern NM, funneling between the gaps of the Sandia and Manzano Mountains producing strong east canyon winds at Albuquerque. High winds were recorded through much of the day at the Albuquerque Sunport with a peak gust of 64 mph. The main upper level low also brought heavy snow to portions of the central highlands and eastern plains south of I-40. Mesoscale bands of heavy snow produced localized amounts of 6 to 8 inches over the eastern plains stretching from Vaughn to Clovis.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1067131. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.