New Mexico, 2005

Heavy Snow in New Mexico, March 14 to 15, 2005

March 14 to 15, 2005 · NWS ABQ · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

A storm which began with heavy snows along the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and the Sandia mountains pushed cold air through the central valleys and covered the eastern plains with cold readings. Amounts peaked at near 17-19 inches at Chacon and Pecos while 24-28 inches was measured near Gascon.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
10

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.

A storm which began with heavy snows along the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and the Sandia mountains pushed cold air through the central valleys and covered the eastern plains with cold readings. Amounts peaked at near 17-19 inches at Chacon and Pecos while 24-28 inches was measured near Gascon. The Sandia Park area reported 15-22 inches. Snow eventually spread west in the central valley with 4-8 inches reported in Albuquerque metro area and nearly 12 inches across the Jemez Mountains and Los Alamos with 10 inches reported east and southeast of Cuba. The storm dumped 4 to 9 inches across the eastern plains as it finally moved east out of the state, Mountain communities northwest of Las Vegas had 48 hours totals of 30-36 inches.

Event by event

10 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Sandia/Manzano Mountains / Most of W Santa Fe / E Bernalillo / X Se Sanduval / X W Torrance / E Valencia / Part of E Socorro

When
March 14, 12:00 AM MST to 11:00 AM MST
Where
Sandia/Manzano Mountains / Most of W Santa Fe / E Bernalillo / X Se Sanduval / X W Torrance / E Valencia / Part of E Socorro forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County / Se Santa Fe / W San Miguel / Torrance Except X W / E Socorro

When
March 14, 12:00 AM MST to 11:00 AM MST
Where
Central High Plains/Estancia Valley County / Se Santa Fe / W San Miguel / Torrance Except X W / E Socorro forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Northeast Highlands / All But X W and X Se Colfax / All But X W Mora / C San Miguel / X Nw Union

When
March 14, 12:00 AM MST to 5:00 PM MST
Where
Northeast Highlands / All But X W and X Se Colfax / All But X W Mora / C San Miguel / X Nw Union forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Northwest Mountains Including Jemez / Rio Arriba Except X Se / Sanduval Except Se and X Sw / Los Alamos / Ne McKinley / Se San Juan / X Nw Santa Fe

When
March 14, 12:00 AM MST to 11:00 AM MST
Where
Northwest Mountains Including Jemez / Rio Arriba Except X Se / Sanduval Except Se and X Sw / Los Alamos / Ne McKinley / Se San Juan / X Nw Santa Fe forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Quay

When
March 14, 12:00 PM MST to March 15, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Quay forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Harding

When
March 14, 12:00 PM MST to March 15, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Harding forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Westcentral Mountains / McKinley Except Nc and Ne / Cibola Except X E / N Catron / X Sw Sanduval / X Nw Bernalillo / X Nw Socorro

When
March 14, 12:00 PM MST to March 15, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Westcentral Mountains / McKinley Except Nc and Ne / Cibola Except X E / N Catron / X Sw Sanduval / X Nw Bernalillo / X Nw Socorro forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Conchas Lake/Guadalupe / E San Miguel / Guadalupe

When
March 14, 12:00 PM MST to March 15, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Conchas Lake/Guadalupe / E San Miguel / Guadalupe forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Upper Rio Grande Valley / Nw Santa Fe / Part of Se Rio Arriba / Part of Se Sanduval

When
March 14, 12:00 PM MST to March 15, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Upper Rio Grande Valley / Nw Santa Fe / Part of Se Rio Arriba / Part of Se Sanduval forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Sangre de Cristo Mountains / Taos / X W Mora / X Se Rio Arriba / Ne Santa Fe / X W Colfax / X Nw San Miguel

When
March 14, 12:00 PM MST to March 15, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Sangre de Cristo Mountains / Taos / X W Mora / X Se Rio Arriba / Ne Santa Fe / X W Colfax / X Nw San Miguel 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 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, March 2005

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5440495, 5440496, 5440497, 5440498, 5440499, 5440500, 5440501, 5440502, 5440503, 5440504.