Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in New Mexico, December 23 to 25, 2021

Name: Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in New Mexico, December 23 to 25, 2021
Start: 2021-12-23T17:00
End: 2021-12-25T04:00
Location: New Mexico

December 23 to 25, 2021 · NWS ABQ · 10 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $15,000
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 dynamic storm system developing off the coast of California finally moved inland and brought snow and high winds to portions of northern and central New Mexico on December 24, 2021. A strong upper-level jet oriented southwest to northeast accompanying this storm system resulted in windy to damaging wind conditions across a large portion of central and eastern New Mexico. Wind gusts in excess of 58 mph were common across the central high terrain and portions of the eastern plains. Despite these very strong winds, there were not many reports of damages except in Lincoln County where wind gusts up to 64 mph downed a few trees and damaged a roof at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds. This storm system also brought snow to portions of western and north central New Mexico on Christmas Eve. Snow totals were confined to the mountainous terrain where the Tusas and northern Sangre de Cristo mountains received snow totals generally ranging from 8 to 17 inches. The combination of snow and high winds resulted in difficult to severe driving conditions, particularly along U.S. Highway 64 where wind gusts were in excess of 70 mph. Key Impacts: damages, downed trees, difficult travel.

What forecasters said that day

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 23, 4:40 PM MST, 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 23, 4:40 PM MST, 20 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
440 PM MST Thu Dec 23 2021

.AVIATION...
00Z TAF CYCLE
Thickening and lowering clouds over wrn and central NM with
increasing chances for rain and higher terrain snow especially aft
24/12Z when areas to widespread mt obscurations and MVFR to IFR
cigs/vsbys in precipitation and br are likely. Mt top winds
strenghtening while sfc lee trough deepens, leading to strong winds
developing along and south of I-40 and along and east of I-25 with
gusts to around 50kt possible in the lee of the central mt chain aft
24/03Z and persisting and spreading into the eastern plains aft
24/12Z.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION...351 PM MST Thu Dec 23 2021...
.SYNOPSIS...
Active weather expected for the next week as several disturbances
track across northern and central New Mexico. Another high wind event
is expected tomorrow where peak winds of 65-75 mph will be possible
along and east of the central mountains, while the northern mountains
see another round of accumulating snowfall. Conditions improve by
Saturday but a reprise to strong winds and mountain snow is on tap
for Sunday. A third system will bring more wind area-wide and
precipitation to western and central areas on Tuesday.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT)...
An upper level low pressure system off the CA coast will open into a
trough as it crosses the southern CA coast tonight, then ejects
quickly northeastward across the Four Corners area on Friday and
Friday night. The storm system will have a strong tap of Pacific
moisture, which will begin spreading over west central, northwest,
and north central parts of the forecast area with rain showers and
accumulating mountain snow tonight into Friday morning as the snow
level lowers near 6500 feet near the CO border. The snow level will
then lift near 8000 feet Friday afternoon, before dropping to valley
bottoms Friday night. By the time the lowest elevations of northwest
NM get cold enough for snow Friday night, most of the moisture will
already shift east of the forecast area. Several inches to a foot of
snow are expected in the northern mountains by sunrise Saturday,
except close to 2 feet in the Tusas and parts of the northern
Sangres. Much of the area along and west of the central mountain
chain should receive wetting rainfall in the 0.25-1 inch range,
except from Albuquerque southward in the Rio Grande Valley where
wetting precipitation will be spottier.  Downslope flow across the
east should prevent wetting precipitation there.

The storm system will steer a very strong polar jet stream over NM
tonight through Friday night with strong to damaging surface winds
over southern and eastern parts of the forecast area. The strongest
winds (60-75 mph) will probably occur tonight in the northern
mountains, but not until mid day Friday over the SW mountains (60-75
mph), and not until Friday afternoon over south central and eastern
areas (60-70 mph). High Wind Watches issued by previous shifts will
be upgraded with this forecast package mostly to High Wind Warnings,
except for a few Wind Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings around
the western and northern edges.  Locations west of the central
mountain chain and north of Highway 60 will probably be spared from
widespread wind gusts over 45 mph because of thick cloud cover and
some fairly widespread precipitation.

LONG TERM...(SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY)...
Active weather looks to once again plague the long term forecast as
a parade of disturbances make their trek across the Desert
Southwest. A longwave trough pushes inland off the coast of CA
Friday night, accompanied by a stout 150 kt jet max hugging its
eastern periphery. Things dry out Saturday by the afternoon ahead of
this disturbance, with brisk winds continuing across the central mts
and eastward. The aforementioned trough pushes east by Sunday, its
300 mb jet max strengthening to 165 kts as it drapes itself across
the northern mts. This alongside a tightening pressure gradient a 500
mb and a deepening lee-side sfc low will bring a reprise of strong
winds to the Land of Enchantment Sunday. Additionally, the setup
will bring another round of rain and snow which will favor the
Continental Divide and westward, as well as the northern mts through
the evening hours. Breezy conditions will linger moving into Monday
before another disturbance digs into the west coast, bringing
widespread windy conditions to northern and central NM again on
Tuesday. An increase in precipitation coverage looks likely with this
system, though chances continue to favor western and central NM. The
active pattern looks to continue as models hint to yet another storm
targeting the Desert Southwest towards the end of the week. Stay
tuned...

44/12

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
Except for some critically low humidities east of the central
mountain chain Monday, minimum humidities are forecast to remain
above critical thresholds Friday through Wednesday. Strong wind
events are expected tonight through Friday night, then again Sunday
and possibly Tuesday.  The strongest gusts tonight, Friday, and
Sunday are likely to exceed 60 mph over mountain peaks and east of
the central mountain chain along portions of the I-40 corridor.
There will also be a few to several inches of accumulating snow
tonight through Friday night in the north central and northwest
mountains including the Chuskas, and widespread wetting rainfall at
lower elevations along and west of the central mountain chain,
except for spottier wetting precipitation in the central valley from
Albuquerque southward. A weaker weather system will bring a chance
for lighter precipitation mainly to the northern mountains and
northwest highlands Sunday. Monday night through mid week, a series
of disturbances are forecast to bring a chance of mostly valley rain
and mountain snow to the area along and west of the central mountain
chain.

44

&&

.ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Winter Weather Advisory from midnight tonight to 5 AM MST Saturday
for the following zones... NMZ202-203-211-215.

High Wind Warning from 8 PM this evening to 11 PM MST Friday for
the following zones... NMZ208-215-221-223-224-227.

Wind Advisory from 5 AM to 8 PM MST Friday for the following
zones... NMZ212-222-225.

High Wind Warning from 5 AM to 10 PM MST Friday for the following
zones... NMZ226-228>240.

Winter Storm Warning from midnight tonight to 5 AM MST Saturday for
the following zones... NMZ210-213-214.

&&

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 high wind, 2 heavy snow, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Tusas Mountains Including Chama

When: December 23, 5:00 PM MST to December 25, 4:00 AM MST
Where: Tusas Mountains Including Chama forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL
Coordinates: 36.544, -106.162 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy snow began to fall across the Tusas Mountains late on December 23rd and continued through early Christmas morning. Various SNOTELs across the area received an estimated 10 to 17 inches of new snow. Severe driving conditions were reported as a result along U.S. Highway 64.

Winter Storm, Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains

When: December 23, 11:30 PM MST to December 24, 11:00 PM MST
Where: Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL
Coordinates: 36.592, -105.139 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy snow began to fall across the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains late on December 23rd and continued through much of Christmas Eve. The highest snow totals were measured just east of Arroyo Seco where a SNOTEL received an estimated 16 inches of new snow. High winds were also measured across the area as a weather station located on Kachina Peak at Taos Ski Valley measured a peak wind gust of 73 mph at 1630 MST. The combination of heavy snow and high winds resulted in severe driving conditions along U.S. Highway 64.

High Wind, South Central Mountains

When: December 24, 6:35 AM MST to 11:35 AM MST
Where: South Central Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 33.745, -105.459 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An AWOS station near Ruidoso measured a peak sustained wind speed of 52 mph.

High Wind, Southwest Mountains

When: December 24, 7:00 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where: Southwest Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 59 kt (68 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 33.961, -107.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A mesonet station at Magdalena Ridge Observatory measured a peak wind gust of 68 mph.

High Wind, South Central Mountains

When: December 24, 7:35 AM MST to 11:35 AM MST
Where: South Central Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 33.745, -105.459 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An AWOS station near Ruidoso measured a peak wind gust of 64 mph. The Lincoln County Emergency Manager reported that a few trees were downed and a metal roof was damaged at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds. Damages are a rough estimate.

Heavy Snow, Chuska Mountains

When: December 24, 10:00 AM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Chuska Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL
Coordinates: 36.045, -108.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy snow fell across the Chuska Mountains through much of Christmas Eve. A SNOTEL site near Toadlena received an estimated 10 inches of new snow.

High Wind, Union County

When: December 24, 11:19 AM MST to 12:54 PM MST
Where: Union County forecast zone
Measured: 36 kt (41 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.482, -103.471 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A public weather station near Sedan measured a peak sustained wind speed of 42 mph.

High Wind, Southwest Chaves County

When: December 24, 12:36 PM MST to 1:36 PM MST
Where: Southwest Chaves County forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by: RAWS
Coordinates: 33.363, -104.467 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A RAWS station near Dunken measured a peak wind gust of 61 mph.

High Wind, Quay County

When: December 24, 12:53 PM MST to 12:55 PM MST
Where: Quay County forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 35.104, -103.550 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An ASOS station near Tucumcari measured a peak wind gust of 60 mph.

High Wind, Chaves County Plains

When: December 24, 1:51 PM MST to 1:55 PM MST
Where: Chaves County Plains forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 33.363, -104.467 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An ASOS station near Roswell measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Mexico in 2021 Every state in 2021 This day in weather history Warnings in New Mexico, December 2021

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 991110, 991112, 991105, 991103, 991104, 991111, 991106, 991109, 991107, 991108.