Heavy Snow — San Francisco River Valley, New Mexico

2021-01-25 to 2021-01-26 · San Francisco River Valley, New Mexico

Event narrative

A trained spotter near Alma received about 4.5 inches of snow overnight on the 25th and continuing into the morning of the 26th.

Wider weather episode

A series of upper level storm systems moved quickly east through the southwest United States from January 23-26, 2021. Each of these systems was progressively colder and produced several rounds of light to moderate snowfall across much of western and northern New Mexico. The strongest of these systems deepened as it tracked southward along the western coast of the United States before it tracked across New Mexico overnight on the 25th. This system even produced a snow squall that impacted travel along Interstate 40 from near Grants eastward into the Albuquerque metro area. The mountains across northern and central New Mexico received the highest snowfall totals over this multi-day event with accumulations totaling 15 to 25 inches in mountain peaks.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 930986. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.