Jemez Mountains storm history

Woman killed by a falling tree at Bandelier National Monument.

The Cerro Pelado Fire began during the afternoon hours of April 22nd approximately seven miles east of Jemez Springs. With very high winds in the area, this fire rapidly spread, and by the morning of April 23rd, it had grown to 4,688 acres. Evacuation orders were quickly given fo…

The Las Conchas wildfire damaged 80 homes, of which, 15 were primary residences. The other 65 homes were seasonal. Numerous outbuildings were also damaged or destroyed and 10 vehicles were completely destroyed. The fire prompted evacuations of Los Alamos National Labs, Bandelier …

Extreme drought conditions were removed from the zone.

Extreme drought conditions persisted across the majority of the zone.

The Laguna Wildfire was a lightning started fire originally discovered June 25th and managed in an area of the Santa Fe National Forest roughly 25 miles west of Abiquiu. The fire was managed until a spot fire was discovered outside of the containment lines July 11th. A period of …

Extreme drought conditions persisted across the majority of the zone.

Extreme drought conditions persisted across the majority of the zone.

Extreme drought persisted across the majority of the zone.

A CoCoRaHS observer in Gallina measured 11.3 inches of snowfall.

Extreme drought conditions were introduced to the majority of the zone.

The Tower RAWS measured a peak wind gust of 62 mph.

The Los Alamos Airport measured a peak wind gust of 59 mph.

Pajarito Ski Resort observed 29 inches of snow. One to two feet of snow was estimated or measured from SNOTEL sites and CoCoRaHS observers elsewhere in the zone.

The Indios wildfire continued to grow at the start of June with the total acreage reaching 11,500 acres by June 4th. Fire activity dwindled thereafter as containment reached 86 percent by June 9th.

Cloud to ground lightning started the Indios wildfire in a remote area of the Chama River Canyon 7 miles north of the village of Coyote, NM on May 19th. The wildfire burned through the remote wilderness growing in size to 450 acres by the 21st. Critical fire weather conditions on…

The Los Alamos Airport measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.

Severe drought was removed from the vast majority of the zone.

The Pajarito Ski area reported 13 inches of snow. There were reports of 4 to 11 inches elsewhere in the zone.

The Pajarito Ski Resort near Los Alamos observed 20 inches of snowfall over the time period.

The Pajarito Ski Resort observed 14 inches of snowfall. Additionally, a CoCoRaHS observer just south of Valles Caldera National Preseve observed 11 inches of snowfall.

Severe drought was reduced to the far northern, western, and southern portions of the zone.

The Pajarito ski area measured 11 inches of snow.

Severe drought remained persistent across a majority of the zone while extreme drought was removed from a portion of the zone.

An estimated 11 inches of snow occurred at the Senorita Divide SNOTEL on the western high peaks of the Jemez Mountains. There were other reports of 6 to 8.5 inches along the rim of the caldera, and 3.3 to 5.6 inches in lower elevations near Los Alamos to Jemez Springs.

Severe to extreme drought conditions persisted across the zone.

The Pajarito Ski area measured a storm total of 15 inches on the morning of December 14th. Ten inches was also estimated at a SNOTEL station west of Los Alamos, with general amounts of 4 to 6 inches reported elsewhere across the Jemez Mountains.

A CoCoRaHS observer reported 12.3 inches in the far northwestern corner of the zone by the morning of December 2nd. Amounts of nine to ten inches were also observed in southern portions of the zone and in Los Alamos. Heavy snow also closed portion of the main road through Los Ala…

Beneficial snowfall from several winter storms allowed extreme drought conditions to contract to the southern part of the zone with severe drought conditions across the rest of the zone.

A CoCoRaHS observer reported 12.3 inches in the far northwestern corner of the zone by the morning of December 2nd. Amounts of nine to ten inches were also observed in southern portions of the zone and in Los Alamos. Heavy snow also closed portion of the main road through Los Ala…

The Vacas Locas SNOTEL measured 11 inches of snow. Other snow amounts ranged from 3 to 7 inches, with 5 to 7 in Los Alamos.

A relatively wetter than normal November resulted in the improvement of extreme to severe drought conditions in the south-central section of zone. Extreme drought remained persistent elsewhere in the zone.

A dry and warm October resulted in the eastward expansion of extreme drought conditions for most of the zone and a patch of exceptional drought in the northwestern section of the zone.

A continuation of a dry monsoon season and above normal temperatures allowed for the expansion of extreme drought conditions in the southeastern portion of the zone.

A continuation of a dry monsoon season and above normal temperatures allowed for the eastward expansion of severe drought conditions and introduction of extreme drought conditions in the western portion of the zone.

A Los Alamos National Laboratory mesonet station measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.

Heavy snow impacted the western high terrain of the Jemez Mountains where the Vacas Locas SNOTEL measured 11 inches of snow.

A CoCoRaHS station near Los Alamos measured 11.5 inches of snow. Various other reports of 3 to 7 inches were reported in and around Los Alamos.

Heavy snow and blowing snow impacted the caldera of the Valles Caldera where there was an 18 inch report of snow just west of Los Alamos. There were various other reports of 4 to 9 inches of snow through the Jemez Mountains.

A twitter reported showed a snow plow having flipped over along New Mexico Highway 4 just west of Los Alamos on the switchbacks to Valles Caldera.

Heavy snow impacted the area. A CoCoRaHS observer measured 14.5 inches of snowfall along the western caldera of the Jemez Mountains.

Heavy snow impacted the area. Two SNOTEL stations estimated 11 to 12 inches of snowfall in the western Jemez Mountains.

The Pajarito Mountain Ski area estimated 10 inches of snowfall.

Heavy snow was observed with the Quemazon SNOTEL reporting an estimated 10 inches of snowfall.

Heavy snow impacted the Jemez Mountains. A SNOTEL site reported 12 inches of snow.

A Los Alamos National Laboratories weather station recorded a peak gust of 61 mph.

Moderate to severe drought conditions from July 2022 improved to moderate drought conditions areawide in August.

Severe to extreme drought conditions from June 2022 improved to moderate to severe drought in July.

The Cerro Pelado Fire, which began in April 2022 and grew rapidly during the month of May, was finally contained by June 15th. The wildfire burned 45,605 acres during this time. No known structures were burned during June.

Extreme drought conditions from May 2022 improved to severe to extreme drought conditions in June.