Winter Weather — Southern Lea County, New Mexico

2025-12-29 · Southern Lea County, New Mexico

Event narrative

Law enforcement reported 2 inches on the ground in Jal, though mentioned some melting had occurred. The time of occurrence is partially estimated from radar.

Wider weather episode

During the evening of the 28th/early morning hours of the 29th, a strong cold front pushed through west Texas and southeast New Mexico, bringing Arctic air back to the region. Meanwhile, our area ended up under the right entrance region of an upper-level jet. A narrow band of wintery precipitation formed from roughly Queen, New Mexico into the Permian Basin of west Texas towards Midland/Odessa. Snow eventually became the dominant precipitation type within this narrow band. The most snow fell in southeast New Mexico, particularly in Carlsbad, where up to 9.8 inches fell. Further east into west Texas towards Midland/Odessa, an inch was commonly reported.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1299989. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.