The last in a series of storm systems raced New Mexico on Christmas Day. Snow spread into northern and western New Mexico late on Christmas Eve then moved quickly eastward through central New Mexico Christmas morning.
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.
The last in a series of storm systems raced New Mexico on Christmas Day. Snow spread into northern and western New Mexico late on Christmas Eve then moved quickly eastward through central New Mexico Christmas morning. Many folks woke up to a white Christmas with generally light accumulations of fresh snow. The combination of heavy snow in the northern high terrain with strong winds created near blizzard conditions. The Taos Ski Valley weather station at the top of Kachina Peak reported a hurricane force wind gust of 105 mph. Strong winds spread into much of central and eastern New Mexico as colder air filtered into the area Christmas afternoon. Many locations across eastern New Mexico saw sustained winds over 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.
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 24, 5:01 PM MST, 3 hours 59 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 501 PM MST Sat Dec 24 2016 .AVIATION... 00Z TAF CYCLE Higher terrain occasionally obscured. Vigorous but fast moving upper low/trof over Great Basin/AZ will progress ewd ovr NM next 12-18 hrs. Associated cold frontal band to reach the contdvd around 03Z and RGV around 06Z. Expect gusty south winds to around 35kt prior to the front, with gusty west winds to around 35kt in it's wake, as well as a period of MVFR to IFR cigs/vsbys in rain changing rapidly to snow. In addition, deepening sfc low over ern CO and strong mt top winds associated with the upper low/trof will lead to sw-wly wind gusts to 55kt aft 06Z along the central mt chain and ovr the ern plains. && .PREV DISCUSSION...310 PM MST Sat Dec 24 2016... .SYNOPSIS... Rain, snow, high winds, and perhaps a few thunderstorms are expected over the next 24 hours. A band of precipitation will quickly move from west to east across the state overnight into Christmas morning. Several areas across central and western New Mexico may wake up to a white Christmas, though the potential for high snow amounts will be mitigated some due to the quick movement of the band. However, those traveling tonight or Christmas morning should be cautious of slick and icy roadways. After much of the precipitation ends, strong to damaging winds will develop. The strongest winds are expected along and east of the central mountain chain where gusts near 60 mph are possible. Wind chills between the teens and 30s will be likely. After Christmas Day, quieter weather is in store, until late in the week when another system may impact the state. && .DISCUSSION... The next 24 hours will be very active. A strong negatively tilted trough/low will slide east over the Great Basin and Colorado tonight through Christmas Day. An associated strong frontogenetical band of precipitation currently shifting east across AZ will move into western NM this evening. As has been the case in AZ, the precipitation may begin as rain but will quickly change over to snow behind the front. Brief heavy snow, blowing snow, and low visibilities will be likely which will quickly deteriorate travel conditions. The band will weaken some as it shifts eastward across the Rio Grande Valley just after midnight and weaken further as it moves across the eastern NM plains early Christmas morning, though there still may be travel impacts. Additionally, a few thunderstorms are not out of the question, particularly ahead of the main band this evening. After much of the precipitation wanes tomorrow, strong to damaging westerly winds will develop across the area. The strongest winds are expected along and east of the central mountain chain. A 990 mb surface low over northeast CO combined with 700 mb winds of 40-60kt are the culprits. As for the hazards, they are complicated with this dynamic system. Will leave winter highlights (Winter storm warning, advisories) as is, except add the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mtns into a Winter Weather Advisory. Will also upgrade the High Wind Watch to various warnings/advisories, and add the Sandia/Manzanos. Thus, both the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mtns and the Sandia/Manzano Mtns will begin with a winter weather advisory, then will be converted to a high wind warning at 18z Christmas Day. Later shifts will need to monitor areas in the Rio Grande Valley if the snow band persists longer than currently anticipated and adverse travel impacts become more widespread. Additionally, wind highlights across the Sangre de Cristo may need to be extended in time Christmas night. After the next 24 hours, the weather will be fairly quiet until the end of next week. Breezy conditions will persist on Monday, but temperatures will generally warm a few degrees. The warming trend will continue through Wednesday. On Thursday, a northern stream system will send down a back door cold front across the plains, though no precipitation is expected with this front. Late in the week into the weekend, models are now suggesting that a Baja low will eject eastward and moisture out ahead of it may allow for showers to develop as early as Thursday night across the southern portions of the CWA with potential impacts through Saturday. That said, the GFS and ECMWF are very far apart with regards to the details. Stay tuned. 34 && .FIRE WEATHER... Unsettled weather will accompany the Christmas holiday with wintry precipitation, strong winds, and colder temperatures as an upper level disturbance and attendant cold front arrive. Excellent humidity recovery is expected in all zones tonight, despite the myriad of weather types that will be observed across the forecast area tonight into the daytime Sunday. As conditions deteriorate and temperatures cool from west to east, the winds will pick up with strong to severe gusts early Sunday morning along the central mountain chain, extending into the plains by late morning and afternoon. A couple of inches of snow accumulation will be possible in some central to western zones with several inches expected in the northern high country of NM. The downsloping westerly winds will keep temperatures around normal in the eastern plains Sunday afternoon, but remaining zones will be several degrees below. Humidity will stay at or above a 30 to 50 percent range for most zones Sunday afternoon with precipitation waning in the northern mountains by late afternoon. Winds will never fully diminish over the central mountain chain of NM Sunday night, but lower elevations will see a decrease in speeds with chilly temperatures filling in. Excellent humidity recovery will be observed in central and western zones Sunday night into Monday morning, but the eastern plains will generally observe lower recoveries to only 50 to 60 percent. Otherwise Monday will be characterized by westerly flow aloft, still strong near and just east of the central mountain chain where some higher surface/20ft speeds will be observed. The westerly flow aloft appears to prevail through much of the remainder of the week, albeit lighter, with a cut-off low pressure system remaining over open Pacific waters. This Pacific feature will stay displaced far enough from NM to allow the westerlies to relax in speed some while dry and rather tranquil weather persists over the Land of Enchantment, at least through Thursday. Temperatures will warm above average until Thursday when a back door cold front could set the east back below seasonal averages. While temperatures will rise, mixing heights will not be afforded that luxury and this will plague the state with poor ventilation and smoke dispersion through the end of the week. The evolution and whereabouts of the aforementioned Pacific low are not exactly known toward the end of the week, but there are projections that it will move inland and potentially bring some subtropical moisture for NM by Friday. 52 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory from 8 AM to 6 PM MST Sunday for the following zones... NMZ522-524-535>537-539. High Wind Warning from 8 AM to 6 PM MST Sunday for the following zones... NMZ523-527>534. Winter Weather Advisory until 11 AM MST Sunday for the following zones... NMZ503-504-506>509-511-512-515-516-521. High Wind Warning from 11 AM to 6 PM MST Sunday for the following zones... NMZ515-521. Winter Storm Warning until 5 PM MST Sunday for the following zones... NMZ510-513-514. High Wind Warning from midnight tonight to 6 PM MST Sunday for the following zones... NMZ526-540. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 520 AM MST SAT DEC 24 2016 NMZ501>540-251300- 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- 520 AM MST SAT DEC 24 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG PACIFIC COLD FRONT WILL PUSH EAST ACROSS NEW MEXICO OVERNIGHT...BRINING STRONG WINDS...MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND A ROUND OF SNOW. WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE STATE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY STRONG TO POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS WILL DEVELOP BEHIND A PACIFIC COLD FRONT SUNDAY. A HIGH WIND WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EASTERN NEW MEXICO. WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS THROUGH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/ABQ OR BY CALLING 1.888.386.7637. 11
11 high wind, 3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall amounts averaged 3 to 7 inches across the higher terrain of eastern Rio Arriba County. Moderate snowfall amounts combined with strong wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph created winter storm conditions from Chama to Tierra Amarilla eastward into the high terrain.
Snowfall amounts averaged 6 to 12 inches across the higher terrain of Taos County. Heavy snowfall combined with dangerously high winds created blizzard conditions around Taos Ski Valley. Kachina Peak reported a peak wind gust of 105 mph. Ski patrol did not note any significant damage from these high winds.
Snowfall amounts averaged 4 to 7 inches across the higher terrain east of Santa Fe. Moderate snowfall amounts combined with strong wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph created winter storm conditions.
Dunken.
Wind gust to 58 mph at Cannon Air Force Base.
Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility Transwestern Pump Station.
Clovis airport.
Las Vegas airport.
Clayton airport.
Raton Crews airport.
Wind gust to 62 mph near Sedan.
Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility Transwestern Pump Station.
Clines Corners and the Union Pacific Railroad station near Duran reported sustained winds up to 44 mph.
The weather station on Kachina Peak at Taos Ski Valley reported wind gusts near 58 mph behind the exiting winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, December 2016
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: 664131, 664119, 664132, 664122, 664121, 664129, 664123, 664127, 664124, 664126, 664125, 664128, 664130, 664120.