Heavy Snow in Southern Sangre De Cristo Mountains Above 9500 Feet, New Mexico

SNOTEL and ski sites over the area picked up between 10 and 18 inches of fresh snow. The heaviest snowfall occurred during the early morning hours of the 7th.

An active weather period started out 2016 after a brief break behind the historic blizzard event from late December 2015. A very active and moist Pacific jet stream provided a wave train of winter storms over the western United States. The first system to impact New Mexico moved quickly over the state on the 1st followed by a more widespread event on the 4th and 5th. Both of these events produced generally nuisance impacts across central and western New Mexico. The next storm system on the 6th and 7th produced the most widespread snowfall of the three and notably the greater impacts as temperatures trended much colder. The hardest hit area was the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Upper Rio Grande valley. The high terrain east of Santa Fe picked up 10 to 18 inches of fresh snow and folks from near Taos south to La Madera and Abiquiu picked up 3 to 7 inches. Significant impacts to travel and school closures were noted around parts of this area.