Snowstorm stalls traffic across the state
I-40 is closed from ABQ all the way to Oklahoma at least through midday today
National Guard troops helped police in closing Interstate 40 as blowing snow and dangerous driving conditions persisted in eastern New Mexico on Sunday, leaving hundreds of motorists stranded.
By Sunday afternoon, I-40 was closed from Albuquerque all the way to Oklahoma, according to Albuquerque police and the National Weather Service. New Mexico State Police said it would remain closed at least through midday today, and likely even longer.
Road closures were widespread throughout the eastern and southeastern portion of the state hit hardest by what meteorologists called a record-breaking storm.
Jay Metzgar, a senior airman stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, was one of hundreds of travelers waylaid by the snow.
The 23-year-old was headed back to Alamogordo after spending the holidays in Arkansas and had no idea that the road he was traveling, U.S. 82, was closed until he hit a mound of snow that sent his Toyota Corolla sliding off the road-
way Sunday morning.
A “nice lady” stopped to make sure he was OK, and later a man named Miguel offered him a ride to Hobbs.
“He got me a hotel, bought me some food,” Metzgar said.
When they arrived in Hobbs, they found the town completely shut down. He said even the McDonald’s was closed, and Allsup’s was preparing to send employees home for the day.
So Sunday evening he was camped out at the Family Inn in Hobbs, watching a “Harry Potter” marathon and hoping to retrieve his car today.
Hundreds of miles away, Moriarty was scrambling to house dozens of stranded motorists. With hotels there at capacity, the local Lions Club opened up as an emergency shelter, providing beds and warm meals to 60 people beginning Saturday night.
By 6 p.m. Sunday, about 120 more had piled into the Moriarty Civic Center to wait out the storm.
“A lot of them are traveling home to Texas and other states,” Lions Club Vice President Don Trumbull said. “We do have plenty of food. We’ve fed them pretty good all day.”
Hotels in Albuquerque were not as packed, though some reported walk-in travelers who couldn’t press east Saturday and Sunday night.
State Police warned Sunday night that Albuquerque commuters would not be able to access eastbound I-40 east of the Big I, noting that the freeway was obstructed by stranded semitrailers. Albuquerque police officer Simon Drobik estimated between 500 and 600 semitrailer drivers were parked in their rigs on the freeway awaiting its reopening.
Many more sought parking outside area businesses as they waited for Texas officials to reopen the interstate.
Stan Barnes, 49, an independent trucker from Montgomery, Ala., was one of a dozen truckers who parked their rigs outside the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 400 Eubank NE, just south of I-40. The father of three said the parking lot is a safer alternative to parking on the shoulder of an interstate.
“I thought this would be my best safe haven here at WalMart,” Barnes said Sunday afternoon, about nine hours after he was diverted at Louisiana en route to Amarillo. “It’s better to sit in a parking lot than out on a highway. I’d rather get home alive and late than not get home at all.”
State Police on Sunday ferried convoys of about 100 trucks to exits farther east on I-40 late Sunday, said Perry Hall, 46, a driver from Emmett, Idaho. Hall said he also preferred to wait out the storm at the WalMart Supercenter. “Right here, I’ve got Wal-Mart and I’ve got facilities available,” he said.
Gov. Susana Martinez issued a state of emergency Sunday because of the storm and said the state was working around the clock to conduct search-andrescue operations for stranded motorists and to clear roads.
“This is a dire situation, especially the eastern half of the state where the storm has hit hardest and continues to dump snow,” Martinez said in a written statement.
Power lines were down in some areas, leaving thousands of homes without power.
The strong winds drove wind chill factors to as low as 13 below zero in eastern New Mexico.
Many major roads, like I-40, were closed across eastern New Mexico, including U.S. 70 and U.S. 380 near Roswell, U.S. 285 and U.S. 82 near Artesia, and U.S. 209 near Clovis.
Preliminary snowfall totals showed impressive and record-setting accumulation in Roswell, according to the National Weather Service. With 12.3 inches falling in just one day, the storm surpassed the city’s previous record of 11.5 inches, meteorologist Brent Wachter said Sunday night.
Wachter said accumulation totals for Clovis were still coming in, but he expected snowfall there to break the 1956 record of 12 inches. “I’m thinking we’re gonna beat that,” he said.
And Socorro matched its record — 16 inches — set in 1960.
New Mexico ski areas received heavy accumulations, including 36 inches at Ski Apache.
Some other totals were: Sandia Park, 21 inches; Edgewood, 18 inches; Placitas, 9 inches; Tijeras, 8 inches; Clovis, 9 inches; Roswell, 15.5 inches, Fort Sumner, 5 inches; and Santa Fe, 2.5 inches.
In Albuquerque, the accumulations were less significant but substantial enough to throw traffic into a frenzy.
The Four Hills area received 6 inches of snow. Accumulations in the metro area included 5.7 inches at Comanche and Tramway, and 4.5 inches at Paseo del Norte and Tramway. Rio Rancho received up to 6.2 inches.
Albuquerque police found a person dead Sunday morning at Bullhead Park near San Pedro. Drobik said it looked like that person, whom he described as homeless, may have died of exposure to cold temperatures.
Police struggled to keep up with reports of minor crashes as the storm hit Albuquerque Saturday night.
“I mean, I just lost track after 200-plus accidents,” Drobik said.
No fatalities or serious injuries were reported, he said. Many of the wrecks involved just one vehicle, many rolled over or crashed into walls or curbs.
Not even APD units were spared. Drobik said two police vehicles were hit while patrolling; both incidents were minor.
Snow also slammed southern New Mexico over the weekend. Cloudcroft was hammered by 19 inches of snowfall in 24 hours, the agency reported Sunday morning.
National Weather Service technician Troy Marshall said that accumulations in a storm like this, as it panned out in the east and southeast, are difficult to gather.
“It depends on where you are and how much the snow drifted in town,” he said. “There’s probably a lot of bare spots out there and drifts that are 10 feet tall.”
On the bright side for some, National Weather Service officials predicted that the storm was clearing out of New Mexico, with snowfall predicted to end in eastern New Mexico by midday today.
“Conditions are definitely improving as the day progresses,” Marshall said. Sunny skies forecast Sunday afternoon in western New Mexico will spread eastward across the state today. “It is gradually clearing from west to east.”
Some snow flurries are forecast in eastern New Mexico early today, with the sun emerging by the afternoon. A less severe round of snow is expected across the state Tuesday.
The cold temperatures are expected to stick around through Friday, though, with high temperatures in the 30s in Albuquerque this week and in the teens in the upper elevations. A slight warming trend is expected by Saturday.