A fast moving upper level storm system shifted east over northern New Mexico delivering another blast of cold and snow. Stronger winds with this system created areas of blowing snow and bitter cold wind chill values.
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 episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.
A fast moving upper level storm system shifted east over northern New Mexico delivering another blast of cold and snow. Stronger winds with this system created areas of blowing snow and bitter cold wind chill values. The main focus for snowfall accumulations stretched from the Continental Divide across the northern mountains.
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 7, 5:01 PM MST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
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</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 602 AM MST SAT DEC 7 2013 NMZ501>540-081300- NORTHWEST PLATEAU-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS-FAR NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS- NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS-WEST CENTRAL PLATEAU-WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS- WEST CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS- SAN FRANCISCO RIVER VALLEY-SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-JEMEZ MOUNTAINS- WEST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 9500 FEET/RED RIVER- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 9500 FEET- EAST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS-UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- LOWER CHAMA RIVER VALLEY-SANTA FE METRO AREA-ALBUQUERQUE METRO AREA- LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY-SANDIA/MANZANO MOUNTAINS-ESTANCIA VALLEY- CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-UPPER TULAROSA VALLEY- SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-RATON RIDGE/JOHNSON MESA- FAR NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-UNION COUNTY- HARDING COUNTY-EASTERN SAN MIGUEL COUNTY-GUADALUPE COUNTY- QUAY COUNTY-CURRY COUNTY-ROOSEVELT COUNTY-DE BACA COUNTY- CHAVES COUNTY PLAINS-EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHWEST CHAVES COUNTY- 602 AM MST SAT DEC 7 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT FREEZING FOG AND AREAS OF FREEZING DRIZZLE AND LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT AREAS ALONG AND EAST OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAIN CHAIN THIS MORNING. PATCHY FREEZING FOG MAY ALSO BE ENCOUNTERED IN THE UPPER TULAROSA BASIN...PORTIONS OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY AND BETWEEN LOS ALAMOS AND SANTA FE. LATER TODAY AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS...SNOW INITIALLY DEVELOPING IN THE FOUR CORNERS REGION WILL EXPAND TO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND REMAINDER OF NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO. THE SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES TONIGHT ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN NEAR THE NEW MEXICO COLORADO STATE LINE. STRONG WINDS ACCOMPANYING THIS SYSTEM WILL CREATE CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGH COUNTRY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SNOW WILL GRADUALLY TAPER OFF AFTER MIDDAY SUNDAY. HOWEVER...THE BITTER COLD WILL BE REINFORCED IN THE WAKE OF THIS STORM SYSTEM FOR LATER SUNDAY INTO MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...WITH BRUTALLY COLD TEMPERATURES EXPECTED THAT WILL BE THE COLDEST YET. FLURRIES OR LIGHT SNOW WILL LIKELY CONTINUE INTO THE DAY MONDAY. A STEADY CLIMB OUT OF THE DEEP FREEZE PATTERN SHOULD COMMENCE BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. UNTIL THEN...PLEASE TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS IF PLANNING ANY OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES AND TO PROTECT PETS...PIPES AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE THAT COULD BE IMPACTED BY THE PROLONGED PERIOD OF VERY COLD TEMPERATURES. WEATHER CAN CHANGE VERY RAPIDLY. ALWAYS USE THE LATEST FORECASTS... WATCHES AND WARNINGS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OR ADDITIONAL HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER IMPACTS THROUGH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/ABQ OR BY CALLING 1.888.386.7637. 41
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Combination of COOP, SNOTEL, and CoCoRaHS data across the area indicated a quick burst of heavy snowfall and wind with snowfall rates around 1 inch per hour. Generally 3 to 8 inches of snow was reported. Blowing snow created significant drifts around the Chama area.
Combination of SNOTEL, COOP, and public reported 4 to 9 inches of new snow. Gusty winds created areas of blowing and drifting snowfall.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, December 2013
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: 479811, 479812.