Heavy Snow — Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

2023-11-30 · Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

A CoCoRaHS observer reported 12.3 inches in the far northwestern corner of the zone by the morning of December 2nd. Amounts of nine to ten inches were also observed in southern portions of the zone and in Los Alamos. Heavy snow also closed portion of the main road through Los Alamos.

Wider weather episode

A series of winter storms, each weaker but colder than the one before passed over New Mexico from November 30th to December 2nd. The first system was well defined and passed west to east mainly along I-40 producing several inches up to a foot of snow at elevations above seven thousand feet by the morning of November 30th. The most severe impacts were travel related on the I-40 and I-25 corridors through the East Mountain Communities and Santa Fe. Snow accumulations of 4 to 10 inches in these areas produced car accidents along I-40 near Rancho Verde and shutdown of I-25 from Santa Fe to Glorieta Pass. The second and third storm system were much weaker and only produced additional snowfall at higher elevations with no further impacts being reported on December 1st and 2nd.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1143408. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.