Heavy Snow — West Central Highlands, New Mexico

2022-02-01 to 2022-02-03 · West Central Highlands, New Mexico

Event narrative

A trained spotter near San Fidel measured seven inches of new snow.

Wider weather episode

A strong winter storm system deepened over the Rockies before tracking southward into New Mexico on February 1, 2022 and continuing into February 2nd. Accompanying this system was a backdoor cold front that brought in very cold arctic air into northern and central New Mexico. This blast of cold air combined with the slow moving system set the stage for widespread snow and winter weather impacts. The highest snow totals were measured across the northern high terrain of New Mexico where numerous SNOTELs and ski sites received two to three feet of new snow. Lower elevations also received heavy snow totals with with four to six inches common across the northeast and east central plains. Portions of the Santa Fe and Albuquerque metro areas also received snow totals near eight inches. While the heavy snow resulted in severe travel conditions across most of northern and central New Mexico, these already poor conditions were exacerbated by the very cold temperatures from the arctic airmass. Snow and any water on the roadways were quickly frozen, leading to extremely icy conditions that lasted into February 4th before temperatures finally warmed above freezing. Across the Albuquerque area, numerous automobile accidents were reported with some injuries as well. Unfortunately, this storm system was indirectly responsible for four fatalities in automobile accidents. Two occurred at Sandia Peak, one occurred in Los Lunas, and the fourth occurred near Santa Rosa. Impacts: extreme cold, heavy snow, icy road conditions, poor travel, indirect fatalities, indirect injuries.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 995514. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.