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

2015-03-01 · West Slopes of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

CoCoRaHS, SNOTEL, and public reports averaged between 12 and 18 inches storm total during this extended winter storm.

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 554366. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.