Heavy Snow — Tusas Mountains Including Chama, New Mexico

2023-03-20 to 2023-03-22 · Tusas Mountains Including Chama, New Mexico

Event narrative

Heavy snow impacted the Tusas Mountains where there was an estimated 13 inches of snow at the Chamita and Hopewell SNOTEL sites. There were various snow reports of 3 to 8 inches across the western half of the zone. The heavy snow forced State Highway 17 to be closed in coordination with CO Department of Transportation.

Wider weather episode

A series of upper level disturbances tracked across northern NM from March 20, 2023 to March 22, 2023. Long duration snow reached the northern mountains of NM with little to no breaks during this three day stretch. The heavy snow brought difficult to severe driving conditions to many of the high mountain passes, but surprisingly there was only one road closure on State Highway 17 near the CO border reported. There was also nuisance flooding reported in Taos from persistent light to moderate rainfall and snow melt.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1077898. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.