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

2018-02-14 to 2018-02-15 · Southern Sangre De Cristo Mountains Above 9500 Feet, New Mexico

Event narrative

SNOTELs and the Santa Fe Ski Basin picked up between 10 and 13 inches of heavy snow. This was a rather wet snowfall for the higher elevations as snow ratios were less than 10:1.

Wider weather episode

A slow-moving upper level wave over southern California spread a deep tap of sub-tropical moisture northeastward into the southwest United States. This system delivered the most significant precipitation to New Mexico in over four months. Rain developed quickly over southeastern Arizona early on the 14th then spread into much of central and western New Mexico through the 14th and 15th. Temperatures were warm ahead of this system forcing snow levels above 7,000 feet. Widespread precipitation amounts between one half inch and one inch were reported along and west of the Central Mountain Chain. Snowfall totals between six and 10 inches were common across the higher terrain. This event was significant enough to knock the driest start to a water year to fifth place at the Albuquerque Sunport. Strong winds also accompanied this system across the south central high terrain. Ruidoso reported a peak wind gust to 66 mph and the Dunken area hit 60 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 731179. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.