Winter Weather — West Central Plateau, New Mexico

2010-02-04 · West Central Plateau, New Mexico

Event narrative

A family from California was headed east on I-40 when they hit a patch of ice around 930 am in Gallup. Their pickup truck slid into the westbound lanes where it struck a second pickup truck head on. Martha R. Toscano, 45, died in the crash. Moreno G. Toscano, 51 and their 4 month old child, Emmuel as well as James T. Riley, 29, of Jamestown, NM sustained injuries. Snow amounts across Gallup ranged from 1 to 2 inches.

Wider weather episode

Moisture spread from south to north across the state as an upper level low pressure system tracked from the boot-heel of New Mexico northeastward into the Texas panhandle. Snow prevailed at higher elevations, however, precipitation changed from rain to snow during the late morning hours across lower elevations. The heaviest snow amounts stretched from the Sandia and Manzano Mountains, north and northeastward across the northeast plains, where colder temperatures were already in place. The snow resulted in over 50 traffic accidents around Las Vegas on the 3rd. One accident resulted in the death of a 39-year old deputy warden for the state Penitentiary. He was a passenger in a truck that was northbound on state road 3 near Ribera around 1230 pm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 206035. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.