Heavy Snow and High Wind in New Mexico, February 2 to 3, 2024

Name: Heavy Snow and High Wind in New Mexico, February 2 to 3, 2024
Start: 2024-02-02T05:00
End: 2024-02-03T23:24
Location: New Mexico

February 2 to 3, 2024 · NWS ABQ · 14 events in 12 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 14 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 14

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 winter storm system from the Pacific crossed west to east across northern NM on February 2nd bringing heavy snow to the northern mountains of NM. Snow began in western areas of NM during the morning of the 2nd, expanding to the central mountain chain a few hours later. While the Chuska, Jemez, and Tusas Mountains saw accumulations of 6 to 14 inches, heavy snow piled up over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains totaling over 20 inches on some peaks. Taos Ski Valley reported 29 inches by the afternoon of February 3rd. This heavy snow caused severe winter driving conditions over portions of the northern mountains. U.S. Highway 64 between Tierra Amarilla and Tres Piedras was closed due to the winter weather. These severe winter driving conditions spread down the Raton Pass and Johnson/Bartlett Mesas and along U.S. Highway 64 between Raton and Capulin. A strong portion of the jetstream also accompanied this winter system and strengthened over NM as the center of the storm system exited into Texas on February 3rd. Atmospheric mixing and mountain wave activity mainly along and east of the central mountain chain acted to translate these high winds aloft to the surface. High wind gusts of 58 to 75 mph were observed over mountain ranges mainly south of I-40 and over portions of the east-central and southeastern plains of NM. These included two peak wind gusts of 75 mph, one being at the Magdalena Observatory in Catron County and the other by a private weather station northwest of Roswell. The second of which was coincident with a report of a semi rollover 20 miles north of Roswell along U.S. Highway 285. Thankfully, there was no report of injuries or fatalities. Blowing dust was also observed by the Roswell Industrial Airport ASOS causing visibility to fall as low as one statute mile at times.

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 Feb 2, 4:44 AM MST, 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 4:44 AM MST, 16 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 high wind, 3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Tusas Mountains Including Chama

When: February 2, 5:00 AM MST to February 3, 12:00 PM 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)

The Hopewell and Bateman SNOTEL stations showed an accumulation of 16 and 14 inches respectively. There were reports of 9 to 12 inches elsewhere in the zone with 12 inches in Chama. The heavy snow caused U.S. Highway 64 to be closed through the Tusas Mountains.

Heavy Snow, Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains

When: February 2, 7:00 AM MST to February 3, 9:00 PM MST
Where: Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.115, -105.451 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ski Santa Fe and Sipapu ski resorts reported a storm total of 27 inches of snow at each location. Other various sources reported a range of 6 to 21 inches of snow across the zone.

Heavy Snow, Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains

When: February 2, 8:00 AM MST to February 3, 7:00 PM MST
Where: Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.592, -105.139 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Taos Ski Valley area reported amounts ranging from 27 to 33 inches of snow within their area. Other reports across the zone ranged from 14 to 22 inches of snow.

High Wind, Guadalupe County

When: February 3, 7:10 AM MST to 8:55 PM MST
Where: Guadalupe County forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 34.863, -104.791 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The SE Vaughn mesonet station measured high sustained winds peaking at 58 mph, with peak gusts reaching the measuring limit of the station of 67 mph. Several other stations in the county also reported sustained winds above 40 mph.

High Wind, Southwest Mountains

When: February 3, 7:30 AM MST to 10:00 PM MST
Where: Southwest Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 33.961, -107.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Magdalena Ridge Observatory's weather station measured peak gusts regularly exceeding high wind criteria, and peaking at 75 mph.

High Wind, South Central Mountains

When: February 3, 8:25 AM MST to 8:55 PM MST
Where: South Central Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 33.745, -105.459 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Nogal NMCC measured a peak wind gust of 67 mph.

High Wind, South Central Mountains

When: February 3, 8:25 AM MST to 8:55 PM MST
Where: South Central Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 33.745, -105.459 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Sierra Blanca Airport AWOS measured a peak wind gust of 67 mph.

High Wind, Central Highlands

When: February 3, 8:53 AM MST to 3:01 PM MST
Where: Central Highlands forecast zone
Measured: 59 kt (68 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 35.209, -105.548 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Clines Corners ASOS measured a peak gust of 68 mph, while also measuring a peak sustained wind of 47 mph.

High Wind, De Baca County

When: February 3, 8:55 AM MST to 9:10 AM MST
Where: De Baca County forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 34.342, -104.412 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A mesonet southeast of Fort Sumner measured a peak wind gust of 60 mph.

High Wind, Chaves County Plains

When: February 3, 10:30 AM MST to 9:43 PM MST
Where: Chaves County Plains forecast zone
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 33.363, -104.467 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter relayed a report of a semi-truck rollover along U.S. Highway 285 approximately 20 miles north of Roswell. There was a corresponding 75 mph wind gust reported by a nearby public weather station.

High Wind, Estancia Valley

When: February 3, 11:00 AM MST to 2:40 PM MST
Where: Estancia Valley forecast zone
Measured: 36 kt (41 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 35.066, -106.166 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A public weather station near Stanley measured high sustained winds peaking at 41 mph.

High Wind, South Central Highlands

When: February 3, 2:45 PM MST to 5:35 PM MST
Where: South Central Highlands forecast zone
Measured: 42 kt (48 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 34.277, -106.262 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Little Burro mesonet within the White Sands Missile Range measured high sustained winds peaking at 48 mph, alongside a peak wind gust of 58 mph.

High Wind, Sandia/Manzano Mountains Including Edgewood

When: February 3, 3:09 PM MST to 11:24 PM MST
Where: Sandia/Manzano Mountains Including Edgewood forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 35.121, -106.434 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A public weather station near Sandia Airpark measured high wind gusts with a peak gust of 63 mph.

High Wind, Chaves County Plains

When: February 3, 9:43 PM MST to 9:45 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)

The Roswell Airport ASOS 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.
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 2024 Every state in 2024 This day in weather history Warnings in New Mexico, February 2024

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1150691, 1150693, 1150692, 1150701, 1150694, 1150699, 1150700, 1150697, 1150702, 1150703, 1150696, 1150698, 1150695, 1150704.