New Mexico, 1998

Heavy Snow in New Mexico, December 6 to 7, 1998

December 6 to 7, 1998 · NWS ABQ · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Higher terrain above 9,000 feet across northern New Mexico received 6 to 9 inches of wet snow. Lighter amounts of 2 to 4 inches were widespread elsewhere across the northern one-third of the state or north of a line from Reserve to Tucumcari to Clayton.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.

Higher terrain above 9,000 feet across northern New Mexico received 6 to 9 inches of wet snow. Lighter amounts of 2 to 4 inches were widespread elsewhere across the northern one-third of the state or north of a line from Reserve to Tucumcari to Clayton. Some sections of Interstate Highways 25 and 40 became snow packed and icy, but in general all major state roads remained passable except east of Albuquerque where I-25 was closed between 10pm and 6am in Tijeras Canyon.

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northeast Highlands

When
December 6, 6:00 PM MST to December 7, 2:00 PM MST
Where
Northeast Highlands forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Sangre de Cristo Mountains

When
December 6, 6:00 PM MST to December 7, 2:00 PM MST
Where
Sangre de Cristo Mountains forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Mexico in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, December 1998

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5676585, 5676586.