Heavy Snow — San Juan Mountains, New Mexico

2015-03-01 to 2015-03-02 · San Juan Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

COOP, CoCoRaHS, and SNOTEL sites reported between 3 and 5 feet of snowfall over the area during this extended heavy snowfall event. The storm total of 59 inches for the 8-day period was the 11th heaviest event on record dating back to 1893. The 33 inches reported by the Chama COOP observer for the 2-day period ending March 1st was the 7th heaviest snowfall on record. Several other daily records were also achieved.

Wider weather episode

This winter storm event is a continuation of the epic snowfall event that began on February 24th. The impressive fetch of subtropical moisture that streamed northeast out of the eastern Pacific during the end of February continued into early March. The area around Chama eastward into the nearby San Juan Mountains reported between 3 and 5 feet of snowfall over the 8-day period. The heaviest snowfalls during this stretch were nearly 18 inches from February 22nd to the 23rd and 33 inches on February 28th and March 1st. This event made it into the record books on several days for Chama. Surprisingly, no major structural issues and extreme travel conditions were noted around the area during this period. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains received huge amounts of snowfall as well through the period.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 554290. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.