A fast-moving storm system arrived over New Mexico early on the 14th immediately on the heels of the widespread snowfall event from the 11th to the 13th. Much colder air moved into the state with this system and led to another round of heavy mountain snow and hazardous travel conditions.
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 storm system arrived over New Mexico early on the 14th immediately on the heels of the widespread snowfall event from the 11th to the 13th. Much colder air moved into the state with this system and led to another round of heavy mountain snow and hazardous travel conditions. A sharp band of snow along the initial frontal passage moved through western New Mexico early on the 14th and weather conditions quickly deteriorated through the day. The upper storm system pushed east along the Colorado and New Mexico state line then shifted into the northern high terrain. Moist, unstable upslope flow impacted the San Juans and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains through the 15th. Snowfall at resort level averaged 6 to 12 inches. Blowing snow was reported with this event as westerly winds peaked out in the 20 to 30 mph range.
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 14, 11:06 AM MST, 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 1106 AM MST MON DEC 14 2015 .AVIATION... 18Z TAF CYCLE A BROAD N TO S ORIENTED BAND OF SNOW WITH MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS AND MT OBSCURATIONS WILL ACCOMPANY A PACIFIC COLD FRONT AS IT MARCHES THROUGH W PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTN AND CENTRAL AREAS THIS EVENING. DOWNSLOPE FLOW ACROSS THE E PLAINS SHOULD PREVENT THE BAND FROM PRODUCING MORE THAN A FEW SHOWERS THERE LATER IN THE NIGHT. ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED IN THE W AND N MTS...AND AT LOWER ELEVATIONS MAINLY ALONG AND W OF THE CONTDVD AND ALSO AROUND KSKX. SNOW IN THE N MTS WILL LINGER INTO TUESDAY. 44 && .PREV DISCUSSION...349 AM MST MON DEC 14 2015... .SYNOPSIS... ANOTHER PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING SNOW TO MUCH OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN NEW MEXICO BEGINNING OVER FAR NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO THIS MORNING AND OVER THE WESTERN THIRD OF THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW WILL SPREAD EAST INTO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND CENTRAL VALLEYS THIS EVENING. VERY COLD AIR BEHIND THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL BRING WIND CHILL VALUES DOWN INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW AVERAGE THROUGH THURSDAY BEFORE A WARMING TREND GETS UNDERWAY FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... BROAD CLOSED UPPER LEVEL CLOSED LOW HEADING EAST THROUGH THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN EARLY THIS MORNING. ASSOCIATED SFC COLD FRONT WELL SOUTH OF THE PARENT UPPER LOW...EXTENDING INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND NORTHERN BAJA. SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONT IS RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD LOW ELEVATION RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATIONS SNOW ACROSS WRN AZ AND SW UTAH. MODELS REMAIN IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT THIS COLD FRONT AND ASSOCIATED PRECIP BAND WILL PUSH INTO FAR WRN AND NWRN NM THIS MORNING AND ACROSS MUCH OF THE WRN THIRD OF THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON...THEN INTO CENTRAL AREAS THIS EVENING. ISSUED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES FOR MUCH OF WESTERN AND NORTHERN NM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT AND TUESDAY GIVEN SUCH COLD AIR ALOFT LIKELY RESULTING IN SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ON ROADWAYS SHORTLY AFTER THE SNOW BEGINS TO FLY. BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW IS LIKELY ACROSS EXPOSED AREAS AS STRONG WEST WINDS DEVELOP BEHIND THE FRONT. LEFT THE MID AND LOWER RGV OUT OF THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES GIVEN THE DOWNSLOPING EFFECTS FROM WEST WINDS BUT CANNOT RULE OUT AN INCH OR TWO...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE WEST MESA AND ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF THE SANDIAS AND MANZANOS. CLOSED LOW LIFTS NEWD INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS TUESDAY BUT MODELS AGREE THAT MOIST WLY MID LEVEL FLOW COMBINED WITH GOOD INSTABILITY WILL RESULT IN OROGRAPHIC SNOWS FOR THE NORTHERN MTNS THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. VERY COLD AIR (-13C AT 700MB) ALONG WITH BRISK WEST WINDS WILL CREATE WIND CHILL VALUES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO MID TEENS MOST AREAS TUESDAY. A WEAK AND DRY TRAILING SHORT-WAVE IS FORECAST TO DROP SEWD THROUGH THE STATE WEDNESDAY...REINFORCING THE COLD AIR BUT RESULTING IN LITTLE ELSE. ECMWF CONTINUES TO PROG A VIGOROUS CLIPPER SHORT- WAVE FOR THURSDAY...GENERATING SOME LIGHT SNOW ACROSS NE NM. KEPT THINGS DRY FOR NOW AS ALL OTHER MODELS ARE FARTHER EAST WITH THIS FEATURE BUT WILL HAVE TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THIS FAST MOVER. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT A BROAD UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER MUCH OF THE WRN CONUS FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. A WARMING TREND IS EXPECTED TO GET UNDERWAY FRIDAY WITH TEMPERATURES FINALLY CREEPING BACK ABOVE AVERAGE FOR THE WEEKEND. BOTH GFS AND ECMWF NOW BRING A WEAK SYSTEM THROUGH NM SUNDAY NIGHT OR MONDAY NEXT WEEK. GFS...GFS ENSEMBLES AND ECMWF ALL SHOW THE POTENTIAL FOR A DEEP LONG-WAVE TROUGH ACROSS THE WRN CONUS AND PERHAPS A CLOSED LOW OVER THE SW U.S. FOR MID WEEK NEXT WEEK. 33 && .FIRE WEATHER... A BIT OF A WARM-UP FORECAST TODAY...ESPECIALLY EAST...IN ADVANCE OF A STRONG COLD FRONT FORECAST TO PUSH THROUGH THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. A POTENT UPPER LEVEL LOW RESPONSIBLE FOR PUSHING THE COLD FRONT THROUGH WILL STAY NORTH OF NEW MEXICO AND MOVE EAST ACROSS SOUTHERN COLORADO TONIGHT. CHANCES FOR WETTING PRECIPITATION WILL RAMP-UP LATE TODAY OUT WEST ALONG/NEAR THE COLD FRONT...WITH THE BEST CHANCES OVERNIGHT CONFINED TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN...ESPECIALLY WEST-FACING SLOPES OF THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED TO COVER THIS SCENARIO. A VERY COLD AIRMASS WILL MOVE IN BEHIND THE COLD FRONT AND SEND TEMPERATURES TANKING WELL BELOW NORMAL. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT BEHIND THE DEPARTING LOW ON TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY WILL REINFORCE THE COLD AIRMASS AND KEEP BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES GOING THROUGH THE END OF THE WORK- WEEK WITH MOSTLY POOR VENT RATES. A WARMING TREND IS FORECAST THIS UPCOMING WEEKEND WITH TEMPERATURES GOING ABOVE NORMAL AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVES OVERHEAD AND IS REPLACED WITH MODERATE SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT BY LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. DESPITE THE WARMING...MODELS ARE SHOWING MOSTLY POOR VENT RATES PERSISTING. 00Z MEDIUM RANGE MODEL SOLUTIONS CONTINUE TO SHOW A POTENT WINTER STORM SCENARIO FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...SO THE ACTIVE/WET PATTERN LOOKS TO CONTINUE. 11 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 PM MST TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... NMZ510>514-516. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM MST TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... NMZ526-540. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM MST TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... NMZ501>507. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 AM MST TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... NMZ517-518. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 540 AM MST MON DEC 14 2015 NMZ501>540-151245- 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 CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET/RED RIVER- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTOS ABOVE 9500 FEET- EAST SLOPES SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS-UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY- LOWER CHAMA RIVER VALLEY-SANTA FE METRO AREA- MIDDLE RIO GRANDE VALLEY/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- 540 AM MST MON DEC 14 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A COLD PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL SPREAD MAINLY SNOW FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS WESTERN NEW MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON AND ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL AREAS THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL FAVOR WESTERN/NORTHERN AREAS TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SNOW WILL FAVOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS TUESDAY WITH PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY SKY ELSEWHERE. STRONG WEST WIND WILL COMBINE WITH COLD TEMPERATURES TO PRODUCE WIND CHILL VALUES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO MID TEENS TUESDAY MORNING. THE NEXT CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED SUNDAY. WEATHER CAN CHANGE VERY RAPIDLY. ALWAYS USE THE LATEST FORECASTS... WATCHES AND WARNINGS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. 33
5 heavy snow, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Various sources across eastern Rio Arriba County reported between 4 and 9 inches of new snow. Blowing snow and frigid temperatures with this event led to low visibilities in the high terrain along with hazardous travel conditions.
Various sources across the Jemez Mountains reported between 5 and 10 inches of new snow. Blowing snow and frigid temperatures with this event led to low visibilities in the high terrain along with hazardous travel conditions.
The Sierra Blanca Regional Airport reported a peak wind of 59 mph.
Various sources across the Taos area reported between 3 and 6 inches of new snow. Blowing snow and frigid temperatures with this event led to low visibilities for a brief period along with hazardous travel conditions.
Various sources across the high terrain reported around 9 inches of new snow. Blowing snow and frigid temperatures with this event led to low visibilities over the high terrain along with hazardous travel conditions.
Various sources across the high terrain reported 4 to 12 inches of new snow. Blowing snow and frigid temperatures with this event led to very low visibilities over the high terrain along with hazardous travel conditions.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, December 2015
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: 604732, 604733, 604737, 604734, 604735, 604736.