High Wind in Santa Fe Metro Area, New Mexico

The mesonet station on La Bajada Hill along I-25 and the ASOS at the Santa Fe Regional Airport measured brief high wind gusts of 61 and 60 mph, respectively, during the cold front passage.

The third and final weather system in a series moved across the Four Corners and southern Rockies February 20th. A snow squall along the cold front resulted in a very brief period of quarter mile visibility at several locations across western New Mexico during the mid to late morning hours, including Farmington, Gallup, and Grants. This snow squall also resulted in a vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 550 just west of Cuba, NM. The snow squall along the cold front dissipated as it moved east into the Rio Grande Valley, resulting in some high wind gusts in the zone. Upslope flow resulted in light to moderate snow across the north central mountains with a localized area of heavy snow across Taos Ski Valley. Snow across the north central mountains tapered off midday February 20th. Additional high wind gusts were observed across eastern NM along and just behind the cold front during the early afternoon hours before winds tapered off around sunset.