Heavy Snow in Eastern San Miguel County, New Mexico

A trained spotter east-southeast of Maes measured seven inches of new snow.

An upper-level storm system became organized over the Great Basin area on January 25, 2022. Meanwhile, a backdoor cold front moved westward across eastern New Mexico ahead of this system. As this winter storm tracked eastward across New Mexico through January 26th, it brought a round of snow to central and eastern portions of the state. The heaviest snow totals were measured along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and adjacent highlands due to the upslope flow from the backdoor cold front. These totals were generally between 5 and 7 inches. Snow totals across other portions of the northern mountains and eastern plains were lighter and generally less than 6 inches. Snow packed and icy roadways which resulted in difficult driving conditions were common across much of the area where snow fell. Unfortunately, one indirect fatality was attributed to this system. The fatality and one injury occurred during a two-vehicle collision on icy roadways near Santa Fe. Impacts: difficult driving conditions, vehicle accidents, indirect fatality, indirect injury.