A bitter cold air mass in place over the area behind an exiting winter storm created plumbing problems for facilities at the Coyote Ranger District office. Temperatures across the area Sunday morning fell into the single digits below zero.
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 bitter cold air mass in place over the area behind an exiting winter storm created plumbing problems for facilities at the Coyote Ranger District office. Temperatures across the area Sunday morning fell into the single digits below zero. Frozen pipes busted and flooded the office. Approximately 40,000 gallons of water saturated the office.
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, 10:53 PM MST, 4 hours 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 1053 PM MST SAT DEC 7 2013 .AVIATION... 06Z TAF CYCLE IFR AND MVFR CIGS COVERAGE HAS DECREASED IN VCNTY OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY...BUT MVFR TO LOCALLY IFR CIGS MAY REDEVELOP IN THIS AREA AFTER 10Z...MUCH MORE SO THOUGH NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40. SAF TAF SITE SHOULD SEE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT TO SCT OR AT LEAST HIGHER CIGS BETWEEN 07Z AND 10Z WITH SOME LOWERING AGAIN THEREAFTER. SOME CIG HEIGHT RISES AT LVS AND PERHAPS ROW AFTER 11Z...BUT LESS LIKELY THAN SAF TO IMPROVE TO SCT CLOUDS. OTHERWISE MOST OF THE EASTERN PLAINS LIKELY TO STAY IN PRETTY SOLID MVFR TO IFR CIGS OVERNIGHT WITH IMPROVEMENT TO SCT AFTER 15Z. CIGS AND VSBY LOWERING EXPECTED AFTER 06Z AT FMN AND GUP WITH SOME AREAS OF LIGHT TO BRIEFLY MODERATE SNOW. MT OBSCURATIONS LIKELY MOST PEAKS AND RANGES OVERNIGHT. WINDS IN THE LOWER BOUNDARY LAYER WILL LIKELY INCREASE MODESTLY OVERNIGHT WITH GREATER INCREASES HIGHER TERRAIN...BUT STRONGER WINDS LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA LATE MORN AND AFTN SUNDAY. 43 && .PREV DISCUSSION...258 PM MST SAT DEC 7 2013... SOUTHERLY WINDS/WAA JUST ABOVE THE COLD DOME KICKED IN AT THE PERFECT TIME THIS MORNING TO ALLOW FOR LOW STRATUS TO DEVELOP OVER THE MIDDLE RIO GRANDE VALLEY. STARTING TO SEE SOME ERODING OF THE LOW CLOUDS OVER NRN SOCORRO AND SRN VALENCIA COUNTIES EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT A GRADUAL BREAK UP OF THE LOW CLOUDS IN BERNALILLO AND SANDOVAL COUNTIES AROUND SUNSET AS SOUTHWEST WINDS ALOFT EVENTUALLY WIN OUT. OVERALL MODEL TREND IS SLIGHTLY FARTHER NORTH AND A TAD DRIER WITH INCOMING SYSTEM. MODELS CONTINUE TO GENERATE ENOUGH QPF FOR WARNING AMOUNTS OVER THE TUSAS AND HIGH PEAKS OF THE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS. LAPSE RATES REMAIN IMPRESSIVE GIVEN THE LOW LEVEL COLD AIR CURRENTLY IN PLACE AND WITH STRONG LARGE SCALE DYNAMICS/LIFT AND STRONG OROGRAPHICS...LEFT THE WINTER WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS AS IS. BLOWING SNOW LIKELY TO BE AN ISSUE ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE FROM JUST SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40 NORTH TO THE COLORADO BORDER. OCCASIONAL HEAVY SNOW ALONG WITH BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WILL BE ALSO BE AN ISSUE ALONG US 64 BETWEEN TIERRA AMARILLA AND TRES PIEDRAS AND AT SKI RESORT LEVEL IN THE SANGRE DE CRISTOS TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. INTRODUCED AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW FOR THE CENTRAL AND NE HIGHLANDS LATE TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY WITH STRONG WEST WINDS ALONG AND BEHIND THE SFC COLD FRONT ACTING ON A RECENT SNOWFALL THAT HAS GONE WITHOUT MUCH IF ANY MELTING. COLD AIRMASS SETTLES IN SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH WINDS RAPIDLY DIMINISHING TOWARD SUNRISE SUNDAY. SHORT BREAK IN THE ACTION AS LATEST OPERATIONAL GLOBAL MODELS NOW COMING IN LINE WITH ONE ANOTHER WITH REGARD TO THE TRAILING BITTERLY COLD SHORT-WAVE TROUGH PASSAGE FOR MONDAY. MODELS ARE NOW DEEP ENOUGH WITH THE THIS FEATURE SO THAT MID LEVEL WINDS BACK SUFFICIENTLY TO CREATE ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE ALONG THE BAROCLINIC ZONE. IN OTHER WORDS...ANOTHER SNOW BAND WILL SET UP FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST ACROSS CENTRAL NM MONDAY. INCREASED PRECIPITATION CHANCES MONDAY INTO MONDAY EVENING AS A RESULT. PRECIPITATION TYPE WILL NOT BE A CONCERN AS HIGH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO BE NEAR TO WELL BELOW 32F AREA-WIDE. WAVE TRANSLATES SEWD MONDAY NIGHT WITH A BITTERLY COLD AIRMASS IN ITS WAKE. A FEW AREAS COULD APPROACH OR BREAK RECORDS FOR THE DATE AS LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION ALLOWS FOR MAXIMUM RADIATIONAL COOLING TO SPACE TO TAKE PLACE MONDAY NIGHT. DRY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT SETS UP FOR TUESDAY AND BEYOND. A WEAK BACKDOOR FRONT SLIDES THROUGH THE ERN PLAINS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...REINFORCING THE COLD AIR THERE. OTHERWISE...A GRADUAL WARMING TREND BEGINS WEDNESDAY AND CONTINUES INTO FRIDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL FINALLY APPROACH AVERAGE VALUES FOR MID DECEMBER FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. 33 .FIRE WEATHER... A SHORT-LIVED WARMING AND DRYING TREND IN STORE FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH PUSHES THROUGH AND DISLODGES THE FRONTAL LAYER...REPLACING IT WITH DOWNSLOPE WESTERLY WINDS. DRY SNOW IS FORECAST TO ACCUMULATE ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA...WITH THE MOST NOTABLE WETTING OVER THE PEAKS AND ESPECIALLY WEST FACING SLOPES. STRONG WINDS WILL MOVE ACROSS NEW MEXICO AS THE UPPER TROUGH PUSHES THROUGH THE CENTRAL/SOUTHERN ROCKIES LATE TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY...WITH WIND SPEEDS EASILY EXCEEDING CRITICAL VALUES IN THE MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT EASTERN HIGHLANDS. HOWEVER...RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL NOT COME CLOSE TO CRITICAL VALUES. VENT RATES WILL IMPROVE OVER A LARGER AREA SUNDAY AS THE TROUGH MOVES THROUGH...BUT STILL HAVE A HARD TIME IN THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY AND ACROSS SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE EAST CENTRAL PLAINS. TEMPERATURES WILL TREND BACK DOWN SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...WITH ANOTHER EXTREMELY COLD AIRMASS FILTERING INTO THE AREA. A SECOND UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL PUSH ACROSS ON MONDAY...BRINGING ANOTHER CHANCE FOR SNOW...ALTHOUGH LIKELY NOT WETTING. VENT RATES WILL STILL BE GOOD ON MONDAY CENTRAL AND WEST THANKS TO THE SECOND TROUGH...BUT POOR EAST. BY TUESDAY AS THE COLD AIR SETTLES-IN...VENT RATES WILL TAKE A HIT AND BE POOR AREAWIDE. SAME ON WEDNESDAY AS WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES CONTINUE. A REINFORCING BACKDOOR FRONT ON WEDNESDAY ACROSS THE EAST WILL HELP TO KEEP POOR VENT RATES GOING INTO THURSDAY. NOT MUCH IMPROVEMENT FRIDAY INTO NEXT WEEKEND AS COLD AIR REMAINS IN THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE AND TEMPERATURES ALOFT BEGIN TO WARM WITH INCREASING PRESSURE HEIGHTS...MEANING STUBBORN INVERSIONS. 11 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM MST SUNDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... NMZ521>524-526>529-533-539-540. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM MST SUNDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES...NMZ501-502-504>506-511-512-515>517. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 PM MST SUNDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES...NMZ503-510-513-514. &&
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
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Frozen pipes busted and flooded the office at the Coyote Ranger Station. About 40,000 gallons of water saturated the office. Damage estimate is approximate.
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: 480966.