Winter storm brings 85 mph winds to Santa Fe

System spanning West snarls travel, shuts schools

A brutal winter storm brought record-breaking winds to Santa Fe, knocked out power in California, closed interstate highways from Arizona to Wyoming and prompted more than 1,500 flight cancellations Wednesday — a blast that may be felt throughout the country for the next few days.

Santa Fe’s version of wild, Western weather was sobering — and at times, freezing.

Wind speeds of 85 mph were recorded Wednesday at Santa Fe Regional Airport, said Andrew Church, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. He added forecasters are pretty sure that is a record. Meanwhile, gusts pummeled New Mexico from end to end, with winds reaching 72 mph in Las Vegas, N.M.

The winds blew down trees in Santa Fe — including one that toppled on La Villa Condominiums on Camino Carlos Rey — and forced the cancellation of several planned athletic events in the evening, officials said. With the winds came hail and occasional snow showers that blew horizontally.

Santa Fe police responded to 10 weather-related calls Wednesday, said Lt. Heinz A. De Luca. These included several calls for downed branches or trees in roadways, including one at Agua Fria Street and Siler Road where a fallen tree blocked the road, forcing vehicles to move into the center median to get around it.

Police also said the wind broke the railroad crossing traffic signal arm at St. Francis Drive and West Zia Road and blew tumbleweeds into the road at St. Francis and St. Michael’s Drive, forcing motorists to swerve around them. Stop signs were blown away by the wind at Agua Fria Street and

Henry Lynch Road, West Zia Road and Botulph Road, and three rollovers were reported on Interstate 25 in Santa Fe Wednesday.

Church said the high winds have been brought on by a “two-storm system” coming together.

“We have a very strong cold front moving through, and very strong winds near mountaintop level and above that resulted in a strong storm system forming over southeast Colorado,” Church said.

Church said the winds were expected to dissipate by Thursday, with some areas still breezy.

“But nothing like we saw earlier this afternoon,” Church said Wednesday.

The wintry mix also was hitting hard in the northern part of the nation, closing schools, offices, even shutting down the Minnesota Legislature. Travel was difficult. Weather contributed to more than 1,500 U.S. flight cancellations, according to the tracking service FlightAware. More than 400 of those were due to arrive or depart from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Another 4,400-plus were delayed across the country.

The roads were just as bad. “A major winter storm and multi-day closures are likely on Interstates and secondary roads throughout Wyoming!” the state Transportation Department said on Facebook. It wasn’t much better in neighboring states.

“Sometimes, it’s physically impossible to keep up with Mother Nature,” said North Dakota Highway Patrol Sgt. Wade Kadrmas.

He warned those who venture out to dress appropriately. Often, when motorists get stranded, “They don’t have a winter jacket. They might be wearing shorts and flip-flops, just thinking they’re going to get from point A to point B and nothing is going to go wrong,” he said.

Kelly Cross has spent his entire 60 years in South Dakota, but even he tires of the wintry weather that often spills well into spring. Besides the regular snow shoveling at his Pierre store, K&C Western Wear, he’s gone through pounds of salt to keep the walkway clear. The company of his terrier, Penny, makes the slog to work tolerable.

“She comes with me every day,” Cross said.

In the Pacific Northwest, high winds and heavy snow in the Cascade Mountains prevented search teams from reaching the bodies of three climbers killed in an avalanche on Washington’s Colchuck Peak over the weekend. Two experts from the Northwest Avalanche Center were hiking to the scene Wednesday to determine if conditions might permit a recovery attempt later this week.

The storm system swept through southern Nevada on Tuesday, causing power outages and flight delays at Las Vegas airports. Powerful winds were the biggest problem in California, toppling trees and power lines. By Wednesday afternoon, more than 88,000 customers in the state were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us.

A 1-year-old child was critically injured when a redwood crashed onto a home in Boulder Creek, a community in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco, KTVU reported. Chief Mark Bingham of the local fire protection district said crews had to cut up the tree to free the victim.

A blizzard warning was issued for the mountains of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, effective from 4 a.m. Thursday to 4 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

“Nearly the entire population of CA will be able to see snow from some vantage point later this week if they look in the right direction [i.e., toward the highest hills in vicinity],” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain tweeted.

A more than 200-mile stretch of Interstate 40 from central Arizona to the New Mexico line closed due to snow, ran and wind gusts of up to 80 mph. Winds howled overnight in northern Arizona, knocking out power to thousands of homes and the National Weather Service office in Flagstaff.

Data from the weather service showed the highest wind gusts at 85 mph off Interstate 17, about halfway between Flagstaff and Phoenix, early Wednesday morning. The Arizona Department of Transportation said it took a rare step and preemptively closed major roadways across the state as winds sent snow blowing.

The National Weather Service said a wind gust of 51 mph Wednesday at Tucson International Airport was the strongest February wind gust in the last 50 years.