Heavy Snow — Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

2024-01-04 · Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

An estimated 11 inches of snow occurred at the Senorita Divide SNOTEL on the western high peaks of the Jemez Mountains. There were other reports of 6 to 8.5 inches along the rim of the caldera, and 3.3 to 5.6 inches in lower elevations near Los Alamos to Jemez Springs.

Wider weather episode

A strong and well organized winter storm system crossed west to east across northern and central NM during January 4th. Heavy snow causing travel impacts to the I-40 corridor along and west of the Continental Divide began during the morning hours with snow expanding through the northern mountain and valley areas by midday. A mesoscale band of heavy snow developed over the west mesa of Albuquerque stretching down through the South Valley area by the afternoon period. This caused several inches to pile up in a short period of a few hours over southern and eastern portions of the ABQ metro area. Heavy snow was also reported through parts of the Sangre de Cristo and Sandia/Manzano Mountains. Numerous reports of severe driving conditions were reported by the NM Department of Transportation across western and northern NM with a few road closures.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1146772. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.