Winter Storm — West Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet, New Mexico

2026-01-24 to 2026-01-25 · West Slopes Sacramento Mountains Below 7500 Feet, New Mexico

Event narrative

Snow and ice caused widespread power outages. As of 10 AM MST on Jan 24th, approximately 5800 people were without power in Otero County, most in the Sacramento Mountains. The Otero County Electric COOP was still making repairs over 2 days later with reports of a lot of tree damage and broken poles due to ice loading.

Snowfall reports across the zone included 12 inches 1 mile south-southwest of Timberon and 10 to 13 inches 1 mile west-northwest of High Rolls.

Wider weather episode

A classic winter weather pattern setup across the region with an upper low moving through northwest Mexico while a back door cold front moved into Otero County. Southwest flow aloft ahead of the upper low kept some warm air aloft over the area and the Sacramento Mountains experienced a period of freezing rain before transitioning over to all snow. This combination of winter weather types caused numerous power outages and over 2 feet of snow in the Cloudcroft area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1310048. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.