Winter Storm — Guadalupe County, New Mexico

2022-02-02 to 2022-02-03 · Guadalupe County, New Mexico

Event narrative

Various sources reported two to five inches of snow across Guadalupe County. The combination of heavy snow and below freezing temperatures resulted in dangerous travel conditions. During the morning of February 2nd, a multi-vehicle accident that involved thirteen vehicles occurred on Interstate 40 near Santa Rosa when the driver of a semi-truck collided into the rear end of another semi-truck. Eleven other commercial motor vehicles and three passenger cars then crashed into each other. All vehicles were traveling eastbound on Interstate 40, but the multi-vehicle crash forced the shutdown of the major travel corridor in both directions. One indirect fatality resulted from the accident. The 35-year-old man was driving a van carrying six other people. He was pronounced dead at the scene while the other six people had varying injuries and were transported to a hospital. Their conditions are unknown. No other injuries were reported.

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 995524. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.