Heavy Snow — Southern Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

2024-03-16 to 2024-03-17 · Southern Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

The Wesner Springs SNOTEL reported 12 inches of snow. There were reports of 3 to 8 inches elsewhere in the zone.

Wider weather episode

An upper level winter storm system had dove down over AZ from March 14th through the 15th, producing a combination of winter weather through the high terrain and high winds through the gaps of the central mountain chain. A relative break in the winter weather arrived during the night of the 15th into the morning of the 16th before winter weather returned to portions of western, central and northern NM. Heavy snow and winter travel impacts were reported over the high terrain. Some areas saw 10 to 18 inches of snow during this second wave of winter weather. In particular, there were reports of near 30 inches of snow for the two winter events combined over a 4 day period.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1158050. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.