Snow a welcome, silent, peaceful sight for many
But rain, snow and ice make roads hazardous, close schools
When Catherine Disnuke stepped outside of her house in the Manzanita Mountains on Friday, she said the air was silent and peaceful, truly a winter wonderland.
“There’s snow on the trees and icicles hanging off the roof,” she said. “When it’s cold like this, everything stays all crystallized. With the snow, I found the dogs weren’t barking and none of the birds came out. It’s very peaceful.”
Of course, the winter weather isn’t welcomed by all. Rain, snow and ice caused problems around the state as some schools were canceled, roads were blocked off due to hazardous driving conditions, and city offices, libraries and courts in Santa Fe closed early.
House leaders in the New Mexico State Legislature called off committee meetings on a bill to increase the minimum wage and another to bar certain Public Regulation Commission employees from taking regulatory jobs for two years after leaving the PRC.
After years of dry winters, this January is on track to be the wettest since 2005, according to the National Weather Service, with 0.54 of an inch of precipitation across the city recorded through Friday afternoon and more expected throughout the day today. Data for the entire state will not be available until early February.
Although January 2010 saw 0.64 of an inch of precipitation in Albuquerque, meteorologists from the National Weather Service said this year could exceed that amount over the next day. This is welcome news after 2014, when no precipitation fell in the first 30 days.
The storm that blew in Thursday night brought rain to lower elevations, and snowfall to the north and in the mountains. It is expected to linger through most of today, dropping some rain and snow across the state.
“Here in the Albuquerque area, it will be tapering off in the early afternoon,” said Jason Frazier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. “But some of the higher terrain will see it last late into the night and the south could get rainfall into Sunday morning.”
South of Interstate 40 received mostly rain, except in higher elevations, such as Ruidoso. Gallup received 2 ½ inches of snowfall on the mesa, but rainfall in the valley, Frazier said.
The highest recorded snowfall in the state was 11 inches at Canon Plaza in Rio Arriba County, near Tierra Amarilla.
“A lot of valley locations in Northern New Mexico did see snow, versus rain, it just didn’t accumulate enough to make an impact,” he said. “Rain has been primarily limited to Socorro County, and to the south and southeast plains.”
Ski areas were graced with a few inches of fresh powder heading into the weekend.
Both Ski Santa Fe and the Taos Ski Valley welcomed an additional 6 inches of snow as of Friday night. Angel Fire Resort received 5 new inches and Ski Apache in Ruidoso reported 1 inch of fresh snow.
For its second open weekend, Sandia Peak Ski Area added 5 inches to a 43-inch base layer. The mountain is now 95 percent open, according to the ski area’s website.
In Albuquerque, the majority of the snowfall hit the Northeast Heights, with 1 to 3 inches of accumulation, although other areas around the city received a wet dusting. Rio Rancho received a little over an inch of snow. The East Mountains received between 2 and 4 inches of snow, Frazier said, and remained under a winter storm warning Friday evening.
Even with relatively modest amounts of snow compared with 10 inches last week, East Mountain residents found ways to enjoy the winter weather, playing outside or taking walks.
Disnuke said the cancellation of school for her two teenage children at Manzano High School brought the cheerful challenge of what to do when you can’t leave the house. “Mostly, we hike in the snow and wear lots of warm clothes or walk the dogs,” she said. “Or we go sledding — we just go out the back door and slide down. It’s a big hill and you can get going really fast. It’s not for the faint of heart.”