‘HISTORIC’ SNOWSTORM BLANKETS NM
Icy roads brought on by an expected record-breaking storm snarled Albuquerque traffic Saturday night, closing roads, slowing cars to a crawl, causing rollovers across the city and prompting pleas from public officials that motorists stay home.
By 10 p.m., Albuquerque police reported responding to 178 wrecks, though eastern New Mexico was
expected to see the worst of the wintry weather.
Driving conditions in the metro area and throughout the state deteriorated over the course of the afternoon and into Saturday night. In Albuquerque, the storm was expected to pick up this morning, before easing in the afternoon. But for the eastern chunk of the state that was most affected, the storm was likely to last through Sunday night and into Monday morning.
“It does look like a historic storm,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Todd Shoemake said. “We’re just urging people to not travel unless you absolutely have to. It does look like a very significant event.”
Meteorologist Brent Wachter said the storm could bring power outages, widespread road closures and lifethreatening conditions to eastern New Mexico.
“Sustained winds around 40 (mph) and gusts around 60 (mph), with heavy snow falling, bitterly cold temperatures — it just adds up to dangerous conditions,” he said, speaking of the swath of New Mexico south of Interstate 40 and east of Interstate 25. “Hardly any visibility at all.”
Gov. Susana Martinez put the National Guard on standby and issued a news release “pleading for absolutely no travel in the 18 hardesthit counties.” The release reported that all major routes throughout the state were snow packed or icy and that road crews were fully deployed statewide.
She reported that U.S. 70 from Ruidoso to Roswell to Portales, and U.S. 60 between Vaughn and Clovis were closed. She also warned of difficult conditions on:
Interstate 40 from the Arizona state line to the Texas state line;
Interstate 25 between Santa Fe and Raton; and
Interstate 10 between Deming and Las Cruces.
Shoemake predicted 20 to 30 inches of snowfall in Ruidoso; 15 to 20 in Clovis and Roswell; and 8 to 12 in Las Cruces and Socorro by the time the storm moves out of the state.
“If it pans out the way we’re forecasting, it’ll be a recordbreaking event for many areas, like Roswell,” he said.
The southeastern New Mexico city was bracing for the expected impact.
“I think people have had time to prepare for it,” City Director of Public Affairs DeAnna Phillips said Saturday of the storm. She said the city spent the past several days prepping.
Crews started treating roads at around 3 p.m. and planned to run nonstop over the course of the storm to keep the city’s main roads clear.
Phillips said the snow began to fall at around 4 p.m. and, by around 7 p.m., 2 to 3 inches had accumulated. She said the last time the city had a huge storm was 1997, when it saw a whopping 24 inches.
“We obviously don’t get as much snow as a lot of other parts of New Mexico,” she said.
In the Albuquerque metro area, Rio Rancho was expected to see the smallest accumulations, at around 2 to 3 inches, while the Foothills and southeastern part of the city were likely to get 3 to 6 inches. Parts of the city already had about 2 inches by 10 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Officer Simon Drobik of the Albuquerque Police Department asked that churches and businesses consider opening late today “due to extreme road conditions.” He reported at around 10 p.m. that Coors, Alameda and parts of I-40 were extremely hazardous. Paseo del Norte was closed near I-25 and Jefferson, as was I-40 between Eubank and Tramway.
The afternoon snow fell onto warm roads, where it melted into a “sheen of slush” that froze as soon as the sun went down, Wachter explained.
“It does seem to be in all sections of the town,” Melanie Martinez, spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Municipal Development said of poor driving conditions. She said the department had 16 plows and more than 40 workers on the roads throughout the night.
Simultaneously, New Mexico Department of Transportation crews, armed with 411 snow plows, and 77,000 cubic yards of salt and cinder, were ready to patrol interstates and highways in an attempt to make driving as safe as possible, communications director Matt Kennicott said.
“We’re ready for this,” he said. “We track all of the storms as they come in. Our crews are very hard-working folks, they’re dedicated to putting in the time it takes to getting the job done and getting it done well.”
He, too, encouraged people to stay off the roads and said those who must travel should check road conditions before leaving.
“Stay inside, drink some hot chocolate, start a nice fire in the fireplace,” Kennicott said.
A few museums in Santa Fe closed early as weather worsened in the City Different and the state Corrections Department announced via social media that visits at all facilities in New Mexico were canceled today.