An upper low slowly moved east across northern New Mexico on January 29-30, 2025. Snow showers developed first over western NM during the early morning hours of the 29th then spread eastward into northern and central New Mexico through the afternoon and evening.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
An upper low slowly moved east across northern New Mexico on January 29-30, 2025. Snow showers developed first over western NM during the early morning hours of the 29th then spread eastward into northern and central New Mexico through the afternoon and evening. A few of these showers produced brief heavy snow, rain, and graupel with localized slick travel. A brief landspout tornado formed on the west side of Albuquerque as one of the upper level storm systems moved overhead. The extent of damage was unknown however several observers captured stunning video coverage of swirling tumbleweeds. Snowfall then focused mainly over the northern mountains through the early morning hours of January 30th with the heaviest amounts confined to west-facing slopes and ridges of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Total snowfall accumulations averaged 10 to 20 inches at ski resort level with lighter amounts in the 2 to 6 range in the nearby lower elevations. Strong northwest winds on the backside of the exiting storm system produced wind gusts of at least 67 mph southeast of Vaughn on the 30th. Key impacts included Interstate 25 being closed between Raton and Raton Pass, slick travel across much of the high terrain and nearby lowlands.
Key Words: Landspout, heavy snow, high wind gust.
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 Jan 29, 10:33 AM MST, 2 hours 27 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 1033 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 948 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025 - Impactful winter weather expected today through Thursday for western and northern NM as a storm system tracks across the area. Minor to, at worst moderate, travel impacts are expected. Snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches will favor the northern mountains with lesser amounts of 3 to 6 inches in surrounding highlands and a dusting to 3 inches in lower elevations of northern and western NM below 7000 feet. - Windy conditions across east central NM Thursday afternoon will create difficult crosswinds. - Very mild to warm temperatures and mostly clear skies Friday into early next week. && .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 206 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025 Snow will build in over western and northern NM today as a winter storm traverses across the state. Pure snow will favor the higher terrain, while rain may mix in across the valleys in central NM, and pure rain will occur across far eastern NM. The storm will be most intense through the afternoon and evening hours today. As the storm moves to the northeast Thursday, an additional round of snow will favor the northern mountains and Raton Pass. The highest snow totals will favor the northern mountains, where 6 to 12 inches are likely and locally higher amounts around the peaks are possible. 3 to 5 inches are likely in the surrounding highlands above 7500 feet, and a dusting up to 3 inches are likely in the valleys and lowlands below 7000 feet. Outside of snow, windy conditions are expected across east central NM Thursday. Drier and warmer weather returns through the weekend and into next week as temperatures will rise well above normal and some record high temperatures may be in jeopardy. && .SHORT TERM... (Today through Thursday) Issued at 206 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025 The center of the 549dm H5 low sits squarely over AZ this morning with a notable dryslot pushing into southwestern and south-central NM on water vapor imagery. Mesoscale bands of snow are developing along an area of baroclinic instability on the eastern flank of the H5 low along the NM/AZ border. Snow has reached portions of west- central NM as a result this morning, including Gallup. Snow showers in this area will steadily expand to the northern mountains along the CO border late this morning and into the afternoon. Snow potential in the middle Rio Grande Valley continues to look stunted, notably from Albuquerque to Socorro as westerly winds will downslope into the valley. This will undercut snow potential significantly in these areas this afternoon. A few stray snow showers are still possible for a lucky few in the Rio Grande Valley south of Santa Fe, but impacts will be limited. Snow accumulations today will range from a dusting to an inch across western and northern valley areas of the state, to 1 to 5 inches atop the higher peaks of western and northern NM above 9,000'. Meanwhile, return flow pushing low level Gulf moisture into southeastern and east-central NM this morning has reached Curry, Roosevelt and Chaves Counties. Fog lowering visibility alongside light drizzle will be present until drier southwesterly winds erode this layer and push it back into TX this afternoon. Some of this low level moisture will be pushed northward into northeastern NM where it will be tapped into for production of rain and snow showers expanding over northeastern NM late today and tonight. While taking its time over AZ yesterday and last night, the center of the H5 low quickly tracks over northeastern NM by tonight and Thursday morning. Snow showers persist over the northern mountains and over northeastern NM. A TROWAL feature on the northern flank of the H5 low will wrap around the backside of the low Thursday morning keeping snow persistent in these areas through the morning. Finally, strengthening northwesterly flow behind the upper low will keep orographically driven snow favoring the west slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mts, as well as the Raton Pass eastward to Clayton Thursday afternoon before finally tapering off Thursday evening. Total snow accumulations by the end of this event remain as they have been advertised for the past two days, ranging from 1-4 inches in the middle elevations of western and northern NM to 4 to 12 inches atop the northern mountain peaks above 8,500 feet. The current slate of winter highlights remain on track and there will be no changes. Meanwhile, the strong northwesterly winds filling in across the state behind the exiting H5 low Thursday afternoon will bring widespread peak gusts of 20 to 35 mph, with a focused area of strong gusts reaching 45 to potentially 60 mph through the central highlands near Clines Corners to Vaughn. Would like to have seen greater areal coverage and/or strong wind speeds to increase confidence to issue a High Wind Watch in this area Thursday afternoon. Nevertheless a wind highlight for Thursday afternoon is favored. && .LONG TERM... (Thursday night through Tuesday) Issued at 206 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025 The winter storm, located in western KS by Thursday night, will send a vorticity lobe around its backside and may trigger a few remnant snow showers across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Raton Pass. Upslope flow from northerly winds behind a backdoor cold front, combined with frontogenetical forcing from the front itself, will aid in any formation of remnant snow showers, though any that do form would favor northern facing slopes. Winds across the state will begin to taper off as night progresses, though there is a low probability of blowing snow around Raton Pass and Highway 64/87 through the early morning hours of Friday. The low completely exits to eastern CONUS and is replaced by a weak upper level trough passing over the state on Friday. This trough will bring no precipitation. On the contrary, temperatures will begin to enter a weekend warming trend beginning Friday and enhancing through at least Monday. Upper level zonal flow will return to the state Saturday, bringing common breezy conditions to the normal windy areas across central and eastern NM. With the consistent zonal flow lasting through the weekend, a semi-permanent lee surface trough will etch itself in northeast NM through the weekend, helping to enhance surface winds slightly. Temperatures will skyrocket throughout the weekend and by Monday, highs will generally be in the 60s and 70s outside of the mountains. NBM probabilities give Roswell a 70% chance of hitting 80F on Monday. Needless to say, high temperatures will be well above average for early February and some record high temps may be broken. Temperatures become more uncertain getting into the middle of next week. All ensemble clusters and the grand ensemble favor a bit of a cool down across the forecast area, mainly the eastern plains as a cooler air mass pushes down central CONUS. However, the NBM is much warmer across the area, with the cooler air mass not making it as far south. With that, leaned a bit towards ensemble clustering and lowered temps through the middle of next week. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 948 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025 A mixed bag of VFR to IFR conditions are forecast across northern and central NM as an upper level low moves east across the area, bringing snow showers and mountain obscurations. MVFR conditions will be associated with snow showers through the period, with short-lived IFR conditions most likely at KFMN but also possible at KSAF. Conditions will improve Thursday morning and westerly winds will begin ramping-up through the morning hours. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 206 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025 Winter weather expands across western and northern NM today, reaching parts of the Rio Grande Valley, while low level moisture brings low clouds and fog to parts of the east-central plains this morning. Despite a sharp cool down and sporadic snow showers across western and northern NM today, ventilation will be good to excellent for many areas of western and central NM. The winter storm quickly crosses into northeastern NM tonight and exits out of the area late Thursday. Snow will persist the longest over the northern mountains tonight through the day Thursday, clearing out of the western high terrain by Thursday afternoon. Strong westerly to northwesterly winds behind the exiting storm system will keep ventilation good to excellent most areas Thursday afternoon. Strong gusts of 45 to potentially 60 mph over the central highlands and adjacent areas will result in elevated fire weather conditions. Thereafter, winds calm Friday, picking up again Saturday and Sunday out of the west. Ventilation will be widespread poor to fair each of these days, despite warming temperatures and breezy afternoon conditions. This continues into next week with a cold front favored to pass thru eastern NM either Tuesday or Wednesday. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 39 23 44 17 / 50 40 10 0 Dulce........................... 41 17 39 5 / 80 80 60 0 Cuba............................ 36 16 37 12 / 70 50 30 0 Gallup.......................... 35 11 44 6 / 40 40 20 0 El Morro........................ 32 18 39 14 / 60 50 40 0 Grants.......................... 36 13 43 10 / 50 40 10 0 Quemado......................... 34 16 39 15 / 60 40 30 0 Magdalena....................... 39 21 43 25 / 40 40 5 0 Datil........................... 35 17 38 19 / 60 60 10 0 Reserve......................... 39 9 49 11 / 50 30 20 0 Glenwood........................ 41 20 50 22 / 40 30 10 0 Chama........................... 37 15 34 10 / 80 90 80 0 Los Alamos...................... 36 22 38 22 / 60 50 30 0 Pecos........................... 39 18 39 21 / 70 60 20 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 40 18 34 14 / 70 80 80 5 Red River....................... 30 13 27 12 / 80 80 80 10 Angel Fire...................... 34 9 31 3 / 70 80 70 20 Taos............................ 42 14 37 8 / 60 70 60 0 Mora............................ 38 16 38 19 / 70 40 30 0 Espanola........................ 46 19 44 15 / 50 40 30 0 Santa Fe........................ 40 20 38 22 / 60 40 40 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 42 19 42 19 / 50 30 20 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 43 26 44 27 / 30 30 20 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 45 24 47 25 / 40 20 10 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 47 22 50 22 / 40 20 10 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 45 24 47 24 / 40 20 10 0 Belen........................... 47 19 52 18 / 30 20 5 0 Bernalillo...................... 47 24 47 23 / 40 30 20 0 Bosque Farms.................... 47 19 51 18 / 30 20 5 0 Corrales........................ 47 23 48 23 / 40 20 10 0 Los Lunas....................... 47 19 51 19 / 30 20 5 0 Placitas........................ 42 25 43 24 / 40 30 20 0 Rio Rancho...................... 45 24 47 24 / 40 30 10 0 Socorro......................... 48 23 53 25 / 30 20 5 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 38 20 39 22 / 50 40 30 0 Tijeras......................... 40 22 41 24 / 40 30 20 0 Edgewood........................ 41 20 42 20 / 40 30 10 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 44 14 43 15 / 40 20 5 0 Clines Corners.................. 38 17 38 19 / 30 30 5 0 Mountainair..................... 41 19 42 21 / 30 30 5 0 Gran Quivira.................... 41 19 42 20 / 20 40 5 0 Carrizozo....................... 45 22 45 26 / 10 20 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 39 20 38 25 / 20 20 0 0 Capulin......................... 39 18 35 19 / 50 70 60 10 Raton........................... 44 18 40 16 / 50 60 50 0 Springer........................ 43 17 44 16 / 30 40 20 0 Las Vegas....................... 41 17 43 20 / 40 20 20 0 Clayton......................... 44 23 43 27 / 40 50 30 5 Roy............................. 42 20 44 21 / 20 40 20 0 Conchas......................... 49 25 52 24 / 20 30 20 0 Santa Rosa...................... 46 25 49 25 / 10 10 5 0 Tucumcari....................... 46 24 52 24 / 30 20 20 0 Clovis.......................... 48 26 51 28 / 20 10 0 0 Portales........................ 51 24 52 26 / 20 5 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 49 22 52 24 / 5 5 5 0 Roswell......................... 56 28 57 30 / 10 5 0 0 Picacho......................... 52 25 49 30 / 5 5 0 0 Elk............................. 50 23 46 28 / 10 5 0 0 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 8 AM MST Thursday for NMZ205-206. Winter Storm Warning until 11 PM MST Thursday for NMZ210-213-214. Winter Weather Advisory until 11 PM MST Thursday for NMZ203-211- 215-216-227. && SHORT TERM...24 LONG TERM....77 AVIATION...11
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
900 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0859 AM Snow 6 WSW Red Hill 34.19N 108.98W
01/29/2025 E2.5 Inch Catron NM Public
&&
CAPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
903 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0808 AM Snow 5 NNE Prewitt 35.44N 108.02W
01/29/2025 M2.8 Inch McKinley NM Cocorahs
Cocorahs station NM-MK-24 Prewitt 5.5 NNE.
0800 AM Snow 8 NNW Omega 34.43N 108.41W
01/29/2025 M1.7 Inch Catron NM Cocorahs
Cocorahs station NM-CT-9 Quemado 8.0 NE.
1146 PM Snow 4 NW Red Hill 34.26N 108.91W
01/28/2025 M1.0 Inch Catron NM Cocorahs
Cocorahs station NM-CT-26 Red Hill 3.2 NW.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
905 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0830 AM Snow 2 NE Grants 35.17N 107.82W
01/29/2025 M3.6 Inch Cibola NM Cocorahs
Cocorahs station NM-CB-27 Grants 1.6 NE.
&&The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 164 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:12 UTC.
4 heavy snow, 2 high wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Ski Santa Fe measured 21 inches of snowfall. Elsewhere in the zone, other ski areas and SNOTEL sites measured 11 to 20 inches of snowfall.
An estimated 11 inches of snowfall was measured at the Bateman SNOTEL. Elsewhere in the zone, a CoCoRaHS observer 12.3 miles SSE of Chama measured 10 inches of snowfall.
A CoCoRaHS observer in San Cristobal measured 15 inches of snowfall. Snowfall in Taos ranged between 5 to 8.5 inches.
A video on social media showed a brief and weak landspout containing swirling tumbleweeds near 98th Street and Interstate 40 in southwest Albuquerque. The extent of damage is unknown.
A CoCoRaHS observer on the western edge of the zone near Arroyo Seco measured 17.5 inches of snowfall. Snowfall amounts ranged between 10 to 15 inches from ski areas and SNOTEL sites in the zone.
The mesonet station southeast of Vaughn measured wind gusts of at least 67 mph. Additionally, the station measured peak sustained winds of 53 mph.
A brief 60 mph wind gust was measured by a mesonet station on the north end of Clovis.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for New Mexico, 2025Warnings in New Mexico, January 2025
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: 1225631, 1225629, 1225632, 1225633, 1225630, 1225635, 1225634.