Heavy Snow — Southern Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

2023-12-14 · Southern Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

An estimated 21 inches of snow was reported at the Wesner Springs SNOTEL. Other amounts ranged from 13 inches at Ski Santa Fe to 20 inches by a storm spotter along NM Highway 518.

Wider weather episode

A significant surge of low level moisture from the Gulf of Mexico streamed into eastern and central NM on December 13th ahead of an approaching upper level storm system from the Pacific Northwest. Fog, freezing fog, and snow spread over portions of the highlands adjacent to the Sangre de Cristo and Sandia/Manzano Mountains. Snow packed and icy roads developed along the East Slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains forecast zone, causing travel impacts and a jackknifed semi truck near Mora on December 13th. Snow expanded across the northern mountains as the upper low crossed over AZ and into western NM during the night of the 13th into the morning of the 14th. This continued through the day of December 14th with significant snow accumulations of 10 to 21 inches atop the peaks of the northern mountains of NM. Snow reached down the mid elevations, including Santa Fe through Glorieta Pass and down through the East Mountain Communities during the morning of the 14th. Snow packed and icy roads causing travel impacts resulting in severe winter driving conditions were reported in these areas from Santa Fe to Glorieta to Edgewood and Moriarty and to Clines Corners by the NM Department of Transportation. The rain to snow transition zone stretched northeastward along a line from near Clines Corners to Clayton during December 14th. Conditions steadily improved west to east across the state during the afternoon of December 14th with the storm moving into TX by the evening hours.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1144468. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.