Heavy Snow — West Slopes of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

2015-02-25 to 2015-02-28 · West Slopes of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

CoCoRaHS, SNOTEL, and public reports averaged between 12 and 20 inches storm total snow during this extended winter storm. Arroyo Seco reported a whopping 20.5 inches of snow for the 3-day period ending February 28th. It was the heaviest 3-day event at Pecos National Monument since 2010. The 4 inches on the 26th and the 7 inches on the 28th at Pecos set new records for those dates, respectively.

Wider weather episode

This heavy snow event followed quickly on the heels of the initial heavy snow event from the 22nd to the 24th. Several upper level disturbances embedded in a deep fetch of abundant subtropical moisture continued shifting northeastward over New Mexico. This moisture and instability interacted with a record cold airmass entrenched over the state. Numerous locations reported record low maximum temperatures. Snow was measured in feet over the northern high terrain where record-breaking amounts were reported. This was the best period of snow in years for many resort locations across the northern mountains. Snowpack received a huge boost as many SNOTELs overcame huge deficits to end the month near normal to even above normal.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 554329. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.