Heavy Snow — San Juan Mountains, New Mexico

2015-02-21 to 2015-02-24 · San Juan Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

COOP, CoCoRaHS, and SNOTEL sites reported between 12 and 18 inches of snowfall over the area during this first of several winter events to occur through early March. It was the heaviest 2-day event in Chama since 2008. The 9 inches on the 23rd was a record snowfall for the date.

Wider weather episode

A very dry and warm start to the month of February ended with an extremely beneficial pattern change that delivered epic snowfall amounts to the northern high terrain of New Mexico. The big change arrived beginning on the 22nd as a powerful blast of arctic air moved south and west across the area and plunged New Mexico into winter once again. Meanwhile, a series of upper level low pressure systems crossed from southern California into Arizona and pumped abundant moisture over New Mexico. The heaviest snowfall accumulations occurred over the northern high terrain where 1 to 2 feet of new snow was reported. A strong surface pressure gradient in place over the area also produced strong gap winds in the Rio Grande Valley. Widespread difficult to severe driving conditions were reported along with several road closures over portions of New Mexico. This was the first in a series of significant winter storms that impacted the area through early March.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 554375. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.