Winter Storm in Southern Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

A storm spotter in Chacon reported 34 inches of snow had fallen just north of town. Snow totals ranged from 6 to 14 inches elsewhere in the zone. The heavy snow experienced rapid melting and rain and snow producing high rises in area creeks and streams in the subsequent days.

Abundant moisture pushed east to west across NM behind a strong cold front ahead of a strong upper level low approaching from AZ. The abundant moisture and favorable weather setup allowed for multiple days of strong to severe thunderstorms to develop across northern and central NM from May 4th through the 6th. Alongside all of this was unseasonably cold weather at higher elevations of the northern mountains. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains received 1 to 3 feet of snow at higher elevations above 9,500 feet. These high snow amounts ended up melting fairly quickly or succumbed to rain on snow events producing flooding impacts over portions of the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that lasted into May 8th.

Key Words: Heavy Snow, Severe Thunderstorms, River Flooding.