West Slopes of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains storm history
Storm events recorded in West Slopes of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico between 1950 and 2025.
124
Total events
0
Tornadoes
0
Hail
0
Floods
2
Deaths
$1.0M
Property damage
Most significant events
Strongest tornadoes, deadliest events, and biggest damage in this county. Up to 50 shown.
The Sipapu Ski area picked up around 15 inches of snow while areas near Tererro received around one foot. Areas east of Taos were also hit hard with heavy snow. A volunteer firefighter was killed just after 9 am on the 30th, when he lost control on an icy U.S. 64 around a sharp c…
In general, 8 to 16 inches of snow fell across the west slopes of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. Some reported amounts include 14 inches in Tererro and around 8 inches at Sipapu Ski Area. The heavy snow resulted in one death in the Santa Fe Foothills. Gail Patterson, a 57-year o…
Drought Drought
Severe drought conditions from March 2019 improved to moderate drought in April.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Various sources reported between 4 and 22 inches of heavy snow along the west slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The heaviest snowfall occurred in areas above 8,500 feet.
Drought Drought
Extreme drought conditions from February 2019 improved to moderate to severe drought in March.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Various sources in the area from Questa to Arroyo Seco south to near Cundiyo reported between 6 and 26 inches of snow. The heaviest snow buried the area around Arroyo Seco where snowfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour occurred for several hours. Difficult travel was reported.
Drought Drought
Extreme drought conditions from January 2019 continued through February.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Snowfall amounts ranged from six to 12 inches. This heavy snow fell in a band from Taos to Talpa, Pot Creek, Picuris Pueblo, and Tres Ritos.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Snowfall amounts ranged from six to 12 inches along the west slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Difficult to severe travel conditions due to snow, low visibility, and frigid temperatures were reported across much of the area.
Drought Drought
Exceptional drought conditions from December 2018 improved to extreme drought in January 2019.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Snowfall amounts ranged from six to 12 inches along the west slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Difficult to severe travel conditions due to snow, low visibility, and frigid temperatures were reported across much of the area.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Snowfall amounts ranged from four to nine inches from Tres Ritos to the Santa Fe foothills and Pecos. Severe travel impacts were reported along U.S 64 between Taos and Angel Fire.
Drought Drought
Extreme to exceptional drought conditions from November continued through December 2018.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Observations showed 5 to 15 inches of snow fell across the area.
Drought Drought
Exceptional drought conditions from October continued through November 2018 for most of the area. Exceptional drought conditions improved to extreme drought for the southern portion of the area.
Winter Weather Winter Weather
SNOTELs across the area reported 2 to 5 inches of early season snowfall.
Drought Drought
Exceptional drought conditions from September continued through October 2018.
Drought Drought
Exceptional drought conditions from August continued through September 2018.
Drought Drought
Exceptional drought conditions from July continued through August 2018.
Drought Drought
Exceptional drought conditions from June continued through July 2018. The Carson National Forest was re-opened during July 2018 and fire restrictions were dropped to stage one at most locations.
Drought Drought
Exceptional drought conditions from May continued through June 2018. The Carson National Forest was closed during June 2018.
Drought Drought
Extreme drought conditions from April deteriorated to exceptional drought on May 1, 2018. Several small wildfires started along the west slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Santa Fe National Forest was closed at the end of May.
High Wind High Wind
A weather station a few miles northwest of Glorieta reported peak wind gusts up to 69 mph.
High Wind High Wind
A weather station northwest of Glorieta reported sustained winds between 40 mph and 47 mph periodically for several hours.
High Wind High Wind
A weather station northwest of Glorieta reported a peak wind gust up to 61 mph.
Drought Drought
Extreme drought conditions from March continued through April 2018.
Drought Drought
Extreme drought conditions from February continued through the end of March. A couple of weak storm systems moved through the area during March with only light snowfall amounts. Snow-water equivalent values for the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range basin of New Mexico was only 22 p…
Drought Drought
Severe drought conditions over the West Slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains deteriorated even further to extreme drought on February 13, 2018. A few weak storm systems moved through the area during February with light to moderate rain and snow amounts. This additional precip…
Drought Drought
Severe drought conditions were declared on January 23, 2018 for the West Slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Precipitation amounts were well below normal during the last three months of 2017 coupled with warm temperatures. Snowpack in the high terrain was an abysmal 24 perc…
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Local broadcast media reported via Twitter that heavy snow fell along the west slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, including 8 to 16 inches around Tres Ritos. Severe driving conditions were reported through mountain passes by NMDOT.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Snowfall amounts along the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains ranged from 6 inches near Questa to 10 inches near Shady Brook. Difficult travel conditions were reported through this region mainly in the morning hours.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Numerous observations all along the west slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains reported between 10 and 22 inches of snowfall. The area around Questa picked up nearly 2 feet of snowfall in less than 12 hours.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Snowfall amounts along the west facing slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains ranged from 6 to 12 inches. The highest amounts were reported in the area around Shady Brook.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Various observers reported between 4 and 12 inches of snowfall mainly in the area from Questa to Sipapu and Chamisal.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Snowfall across the west slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains ranged from 6 to 10 inches, however a local maximum occurred at Costilla where 24 inches was reported. Treacherous travel was reported as bitterly cold air filtered into the area from the north and east.
Winter Storm Winter Storm
The combination of high winds and heavy snowfall produced winter storm conditions along the west slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. An observer in Lama reported a peak wind gust to 60 mph. Snowfall accumulations averaged 2 to 6 inches across this area.
High Wind High Wind
Observer east of Santa Fe in the higher terrain reported a peak wind gust of 63 mph.
High Wind High Wind
CWOP site measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph at 556pm MDT to the northwest of Glorieta.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Snowfall amounts generally ranged between 6 and 18 inches with areas near and above 8500 feet picking up at least a foot of fresh powder. Gusty winds and blowing snow resulted in difficult to severe driving conditions throughout the region.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Various observers across the area reported between 6 and 10 inches of fresh snow on the morning of the 8th. NM DOT reported difficult travel conditions through the area.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Heavy snowfall impacted the higher terrain areas of the west slopes with up to 21 inches at the Santa Barbara SNOTEL. Other lower elevation sites picked up generally 2 to 6 inches. Difficult driving conditions were reported around the area.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Public, SNOTEL, and ski sites reported between 3 and 9 inches of snow with blowing snow. Difficult travel was reported across the entire area, especially mountain passes.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Various sources across the area indicated between 8 and 12 inches of snowfall with hazardous travel conditions in blowing snow.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Trained spotter and CoCoRaHS reports indicated between 9 and 15 inches fell along the higher elevations.
High Wind High Wind
A mesonet site reported a peak wind gust of 58 mph north of Glorieta.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
Eighteen inches of wet snow reported at Santa Barbara SNOTEL.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
CoCoRaHS, SNOTEL, and public reports averaged between 12 and 18 inches storm total during this extended winter storm.
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
CoCoRaHS, SNOTEL, and public reports averaged between 12 and 20 inches storm total snow during this extended winter storm. Arroyo Seco reported a whopping 20.5 inches of snow for the 3-day period ending February 28th. It was the heaviest 3-day event at Pecos National Monument sin…
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
CoCoRaHS, public, and SNOTEL sites reported between 3 and 10 inches of new snow over the area. This was the first big event in nearly one month for the west slopes. The 8 inches recorded on the 22nd and the 6 inches recorded on the 23rd in Cerro set new records for each calendar …
Heavy Snow Heavy Snow
CoCoRaHS and Trained Spotter reports indicated between 4 and 11 inches of snow.
Events by year
| Year | Events | Tornadoes |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 8 | 0 |
| 2018 | 19 | 0 |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 |
| 2015 | 11 | 0 |
| 2014 | 12 | 0 |
| 2013 | 22 | 0 |
| 2012 | 14 | 0 |
| 2011 | 16 | 0 |
| 2010 | 9 | 0 |
| 2009 | 2 | 0 |