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 Albuquerque, NM wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 8, 9:35 PM MST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 935 PM MST MON DEC 8 2003 CORRECTED TO REMOVE ZONE 10 FROM SNOW ADVISORY AT BOTTOM. .UPDATE...MANY TWEAKS TO FORECAST AS IS EXPECTED WITH AN ONGOING SYSTEM. DROPPED AS SCHEDULED ADVISORIES ZONES 1...2...8. CANCELLED FOR ZONE 10 DUE TO SNOWFALL RANGE REMAINING BELOW CRITERIA FOR MOUNTAIN ZONE. UPGRADED ZONES 6 AND 7 TO WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SEVERAL REASONS...AMONG THEM BEING CURRENT RADAR TRENDS...UPPER SYSTEM CLOSING OFF A BIT SOONER IN LATEST MODEL RUNDS AND UPLIFT BEHIND BACKDOOR FRONT. SNOWING HEAVILY AT TIMES IN KCAO AS OF THIS WRITING. OTHER ADVISORIES KEPT AS IS THOUGH MADE A MINOR TWEAK OR TWO IN AMOUNTS OTHER ADVISORIES. ZONES OUT AND UPDATES TO WSW ASAP GIVEN BUSY NIGHT. 43 && .PREV DISCUSSION...300 PM MST MON DEC 8 2003...INCREASED POPS FOR THE SOUTHEAST TONIGHT. I BELIEVE THE DYNAMICS ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO OVERCOME MODERATE DOWNSLOPE WINDS...ALTHOUGH THE MOISTURE TAP IS SOMEWHAT LIMITED. WITH THE LOW PROGGED TO TRACK ACROSS OUR SOUTHEAST ZONES...I SHIFTED THE FOCUS OF POPS TOMORROW MORNING FROM OUR NORTHEAST ZONES TO SE ZONES. ALSO PUT TUCUMCARI AND CONCHAS LAKE INTO SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT. OTHER THAN ADDING ZONES 12 AND 13...WILL KEEP WSW THE SAME AS IT WAS ISSUED THIS MORNING. UPPER LOW FCSTED AS QUITE PROGRESSIVE BY BOTH AVN AND ETA. THUS LIKE THE IDEA OF NO PRECIP ANYWHERE IN THE CWA BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THEN RIDGE BUILDS IN BY TUESDAY NIGHT. SHOULD BE QUITE CHILLY TUESDAY. THOUGHT ABOUT WARMING THE EASTERN PLAINS BECAUSE MODELS AGREE ON SWITCHING WINDS TO DOWNSLOPE IN THE EAST EITHER LATE TONIGHT OR TOMORROW MORNING. HOWEVER SNOW COVER WILL NEUTRALIZE THE EFFECTS OF DOWNSLOPE IN THE NORTHEAST. WILL WARM THE SOUTHEAST A LITTLE. ANOTHER SYSTEM FCST TO MOVE ACROSS CWA FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT WITH ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVES POSSIBLE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY IN CYCLONIC NORTHWEST FLOW. PUT POPS IN ACROSS THE NORTH AND WEST FOR THURSDAY NIGHT AND INCREASED POPS FOR FRIDAY. JWS && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... FARMINGTON................ 019/041 016/047 020 46600 GALLUP.................... 011/043 006/051 009 46600 GRANTS.................... 013/042 006/051 010 46600 GLENWOOD.................. 024/049 015/057 020 46400 CHAMA..................... 007/035 901/039 007 46600 LOS ALAMOS................ 022/038 014/044 020 46500 RED RIVER................. 009/034 902/037 006 46600 TAOS...................... 016/038 006/042 013 46400 SANTA FE.................. 019/039 013/044 018 46600 SANTA FE AIRPORT.......... 022/041 015/046 019 46400 ESPANOLA.................. 021/041 010/046 017 46400 ALBUQUERQUE HEIGHTS....... 027/046 022/050 027 46300 ALBUQUERQUE VALLEY........ 025/046 015/050 020 46300 ALBUQUERQUE FOOTHILLS..... 022/042 019/047 024 46600 ALBUQUERQUE WEST MESA..... 025/046 019/049 026 46300 SOCORRO................... 025/048 017/053 021 46300 SANDIA PARK/CEDAR CREST... 023/040 014/045 020 46600 MORIARTY/ESTANCIA......... 019/041 007/050 013 46600 CARRIZOZO................. 023/047 017/052 022 46400 RUIDOSO................... 023/042 017/050 022 46410 RATON..................... 017/036 008/044 016 46710 LAS VEGAS................. 019/037 013/047 021 46610 ROY....................... 022/038 013/045 020 46620 CLAYTON................... 024/034 017/043 025 46720 SANTA ROSA................ 028/041 017/051 022 46620 TUCUMCARI................. 031/046 021/050 024 46630 FORT SUMNER............... 030/046 020/050 022 46430 CLOVIS.................... 031/047 023/049 024 46430 PORTALES.................. 030/049 022/050 023 46430 ROSWELL................... 035/052 021/053 025 46430 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT ZONES 6 AND 7. SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT ZONES 4 AND 5. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT ZONES 12 AND 13. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 600 AM MST MON DEC 8 2003 NMZ001>021-026-091300- CAPITAN/NORTHERN SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS- CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS/ESTANCIA VALLEY-CHAVES COUNTY PLAINS- CONCHAS LAKE/GUADALUPE COUNTY-CURRY COUNTY-DE BACA COUNTY- FAR NORTHEAST PLAINS-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF CHAVES COUNTY- HARDING COUNTY-LINCOLN COUNTY HIGH PLAINS/HONDO VALLEY- LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- MIDDLE RIO GRANDE VALLEY/ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA-NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS- NORTHWEST MOUNTAINS INCLUDING JEMEZ-NORTHWEST PLATEAU-QUAY COUNTY- ROOSEVELT COUNTY-SANDIA/MANZANO MOUNTAINS-SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS- SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS/UPPER GILA REGION-UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- WESTCENTRAL MOUNTAINS- 526 AM MST MON DEC 8 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY WINTRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHWEST TODAY AND SPREAD EASTWARD. THE HIGH COUNTRY WILL SEE ACCUMULATING SNOWS TODAY INTO TONIGHT WITH THE NORTHEAST GETTING IN ON SIGNIFICANT SNOWS OVERNIGHT. WINDS WILL INCREASE THROUGHOUT TODAY INTO TONIGHT CAUSING BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ALONG WITH REDUCED VISIBILITIES AT TIMES. TRAVEL MAY BECOME DIFFICULT TODAY ACROSS THE NORTH CENTRAL AND TONIGHT IN THE NORTHEAST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES MAY LINGER IN THE NORTHEAST TUESDAY MORNING. HOWEVER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. ANOTHER WINTER WEATHER SYSTEM IS SCHEDULED TO AFFECT NORTHERN NEW MEXICO FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATING SNOWS AND HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER...SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL TOTALS CAN BE REPORTED TO 1 888 386 7637 WHILE ROAD CONDITIONS SHOULD BE RELAYED THROUGH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. KD
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow of 4-5 inches in less than 4 hours developed during the late night across western Union County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, December 2003
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: 5379809.