1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS El Paso, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 11, 2:52 PM MST, 11 hours 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM
252 PM MST TUE DEC 11 2001
SYNOPSIS...
A WINTER STORM SYSTEM MOVING INTO NEW MEXICO FROM ARIZONA WILL BRING
SNOW TO MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW
ACCUMULATION WILL OCCUR IN THE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT. FOR THE DESERT
LOWLANDS...LIGHT RAIN WILL TURN TO SNOW DURING THE NIGHT. MOST
LOCATIONS WILL SEE MAINLY A DUSTING WHILE THE LAKES REGION AND THE
BOOTHEEL COULD HAVE ONE TO TWO INCHES OVERNIGHT. SNOW WILL TAPER OFF
TOMORROW MORNING WITH COOL...BREEZY AND DRY CONDITIONS CONTINUING
INTO THE WEEKEND.
DISCUSSION...
A BAND OF RAIN MIXED WITH SNOW PASSED THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA
EARLIER TODAY WITH MEASURABLE RAIN AMOUNTS IN THE LOWLANDS AND A FEW
INCHES OF SNOW IN THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. THE THREAT OF FURTHER SNOW
CONTINUES AS THE MAIN UPPER TROUGH...STILL OVER ARIZONA...MOVES INTO
NEW MEXICO TONIGHT. INTERMITTENT LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS AND RAIN SNOW
MIX WILL OCCUR IN THE EVENING HOURS. THE NEXT VORT MAX IMPULSE WILL
ROTATE UP FROM THE BASE OF THE TROUGH AND SWEEP OVER THE REGION
AROUND MIDNIGHT...PROVIDING A ANOTHER SHOT AT SOME SIGNIFICANT
PRECIPITATION. ONE QUESTION MARK IS THE AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE
MOISTURE. CURRENTLY THE STORM SYSTEM IS PULLING MOISTURE UP FROM THE
GULF OF CALIFORNIA. SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES THAT CONSIDERABLE
MOISTURE IS GATHERING UP IN SOUTHEASTERN AZ AND NORTHERN MEXICO. AS
IT STREAMS UP MUCH OF THAT MOISTURE WILL BE WRUNG OUT SOUTH AND WEST
OF ELP.
WITH THAT REASONING WILL CONTINUE SNOW ADVISORY FOR SOUTHWEST
DESERTS AND BOOTHEEL WHICH ARE CLOSER TO THE MOISTURE SOURCE AND FOR
SIERRA COUNTY LAKES REGION WHERE TERRAIN FEATURES HELP ENHANCE SNOW
FALL. IN THE MOUNTAINS THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS OF THE GILA REMAIN IN
A FAVORABLE POSITION FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW FALL AND WILL KEEP THE
HEAVY SNOW WARNING IN PLACE FOR TONIGHT THERE. THE SOUTHERN
SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS THOUGH FARTHER FROM THE MOISTURE SOURCE WILL
STILL SEE SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT BUT SHOULD BE UNDER 6
INCHES OVER MOST OF THE AREA WITH ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS.
ANOTHER VORT MAX IMPULSE WILL ROUND THE BASE OF THE TROUGH LATE
WEDNESDAY BUT MOISTURE TAP SHOULD BE CUT OFF BY THAT TIME WITH
MAINLY CLOUDS AND LIGHT MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS POSSIBLE AT THAT TIME.
THURSDAY WILL SEE CLEAR SKIES UNDER RIDGING ALOFT AND HIGH PRESSURE
AT THE SURFACE. ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE AREA FOR WINDY
CONDITIONS BY SATURDAY FOLLOWED BY HIGH PRESSURE ON SUNDAY.
EL PASO BU 34/ 47/ 28/ 49/ 26 41000
LAS CRUCES BU 29/ 46/ 23/ 48/ 22 41000
ALAMOGORDO BU 29/ 46/ 23/ 48/ 22 41000
CLOUDCROFT EU 21/ 33/ 15/ 35/ 13 53000
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES BU 28/ 44/ 22/ 46/ 20 52000
SILVER CITY BU 25/ 41/ 17/ 42/ 16 73000
DEMING BU 28/ 46/ 21/ 48/ 20 51000
LORDSBURG BU 28/ 48/ 21/ 50/ 20 51000
SIERRA BLANCA BU 30/ 46/ 24/ 48/ 22 41000
.ELP...SNW ADVY TNGT...NM ZNS 23 25 30 31
WNTR STRM WRNG TNGT...NM ZN 22
04
N1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The New Mexico Highway Department reported 6 to 12 inches of snow had accumulated in the higher elevations of Grant County (mainly north and east of Silver City). NM Highways 15 and 152 were closed for several hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, December 2001
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5275897.