Winter shows up early in north, east NM
Northern NM ski resorts report double-digit snow accumulation
Parts of northern and eastern New Mexico saw a good amount of snow Sunday night and Monday morning, and residents can expect the coldest temperatures of the year heading into today.
Higher elevations in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains saw the most snow, according to Albuquerque National Weather Service meteorologist Clay Anderson. Red River reported 15 inches Monday morning, but more snow was possible later into the day, Anderson said.
Angel Fire Resort got 13 inches while the area near Taos Ski Valley got between 10 and 15 inches, which adds nicely to the 13 inches the resort received on Halloween, heading toward a Thanksgiving Day opening.
Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort, planning to open on Friday, received 13 inches of snow.
“All the snowfall definitely gets people excited,” said Taos Ski Valley marketing manager Dash Hegeman.
“I’ve seen lots of positive comments on social media.”
Candy DeJoia, a spokesperson for Ski Santa Fe, said the basin got 12 inches as of Monday afternoon.
“It’s kind of got a little bit of moisture to it,” DeJoia said. “It’s going to make a nice addition to our base.”
The town of Taos received about 8 inches while Santa Fe saw 1-2 inches, Anderson said. Estancia got about 9 inches and Edgewood received about 6 inches.
Rociada, near Las Vegas, reported 13 inches and Ponderosa, near Jemez Pueblo, reported 8 inches, Anderson said.
To the east, Anderson said, Tucumcari got 10 inches “right in the middle of town.”
In the Four Corners area, Aztec received 3 inches of snow while Farmington got 2.5 inches, according to volunteer observer reports.
Several schools from Santa Fe north were closed for the day, as well as schools in the East Mountains. The Moriarty-Edgewood and Mountainair school districts, as well as the Farmington and Bloomfield schools, also were closed for the day.
While the snow may have stopped falling for most of the state, the cold will be sticking around.
Anderson said a low of 8 degrees below zero is forecast for Los Lunas this morning, while Taos is expected to reach minus 3 degrees.
“It’s going to get even colder, believe it or not,” Anderson said. “They will by far be the coldest temperatures we’ve seen this season. It’s going to be a frigid night.”
Parts of Bernalillo County saw a little bit of the white stuff on Monday morning, mainly areas to the east, but nowhere near accumulations that were seen in northern New Mexico.
Preliminary snow reports for a 41-hour period ending at 5 p.m. Monday from volunteer observers ranged from 6.3 inches near Edgewood to 3 inches at Sedillo, San Antonito, Tijeras and Sandia Park.
Observers in the eastern part of Albuquerque reported about a half-inch of snow fell late Sunday and early Monday. Albuquerque Sunport received a trace of snow.