Heavy Snow — Upper Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

2023-03-16 to 2023-03-17 · Upper Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

Event narrative

Heavy snow impacted parts of the Upper Rio Grande Valley. There were various reports of 5 to 9 inches of snow from Taos to San Cristobal and near the Rio Grande Gorge.

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 1077587. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.