Heavy Snow — East Slopes Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

2023-03-16 to 2023-03-17 · East Slopes Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

Heavy snow impacted the eastern edge of the zone. There were various reports of 12 to 21 inches of snow stretching from Rociada to Chacon to the Moreno Valley. The heavy snow also caused road closures on U.S. Highway 64 and State Highways 120 and 434.

Wider weather episode

An upper level disturbance passed over northern NM late March 16, 2023 and through the morning of March 17, 2023. Preceding moisture associated with this system on the 16th produced heavy snow over the northern mountains or NM. The main disturbance and colder temperatures brought snow levels and bands of snow to lower elevations of west-central and central NM during the morning of March 17, 2023. These areas included the Santa Fe and Albuquerque metro areas. Several crashes caused road closures, including on I-25 and several state highways, resulting from snow producing low visibility. The highest snow accumulations of 1 to 2 feet were observed over the high terrain of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1077555. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.