An upper trough over the Great Basin deepened into an upper low and dug south over Arizona during the day of March 7th. Gusty west winds across Roswell resulted in more blowing dust across the Roswell Relief Route.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 trough over the Great Basin deepened into an upper low and dug south over Arizona during the day of March 7th. Gusty west winds across Roswell resulted in more blowing dust across the Roswell Relief Route. Lift from a Pacific front ahead of the eastward moving upper low combined with a backdoor front draped across northern New Mexico resulted in the development of snow across western, northern, and east central New Mexico late March 7th though the middle of March 8th. Generally, 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across western New Mexico, around 10 to 20 inches of snow across the northern mountains and east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and 4 to 6 inches across the northeast and east central plains. Snow came to an end during the day of March 8th as the upper low exited east of the state.
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 Mar 7, 2:43 PM MST, 45 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 243 PM MST Fri Mar 7 2025 ...New SYNOPSIS, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, FIRE WEATHER... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 124 PM MST Fri Mar 7 2025 - Light rain and snow showers, and even a few thunderstorms, in western and northern New Mexico will increase in coverage and intensity through early Saturday. Snow accumulations of a couple to several (commonly 2 to 8 inches with higher amounts of 12 to 18 inches above 10,000 feet in the Sangre de Cristos) inches will create wintry travel over northern and western New Mexico. - Another windy stretch looks to return Tuesday through Friday of next week with more dry and critical fire weather returning in central and eastern New Mexico. There is potential for a widespread damaging wind event on Friday with stronger winds than we've seen so far this season. && .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 124 PM MST Fri Mar 7 2025 A storm system will cross New Mexico tonight through mid day Saturday bringing snow accumulations to much of northern and western NM. The heaviest amounts will be across the northern mountains and far northeast NM. Much cooler temperatures are also in store for these areas on Saturday, but a warm-up is expected Sunday and Monday. Though still warm, breezy to windy conditions return Tuesday ahead of the next storm system that will cross the state Tuesday night and Wednesday. Another round of precipitation will be in store as it quickly crosses the state. Breezy to windy conditions return Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, then winds on Friday have the potential to be the strongest we've seen yet this season. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Saturday night) Issued at 124 PM MST Fri Mar 7 2025 A well organized 545dm H5 low tracking eastward across central AZ is very clear on satellite imagery producing snow and valley rain across a wide swath of central and eastern AZ. Convective showers along the Pacific front are now moving across the state line into western NM. Valley rain and mountain snow will spread over areas along and west of the Continental Divide through the rest of the day. Snow levels fall steadily to valley floors over western and northern NM this evening as snow spreads over the northern mountains. The aforementioned Pacific cold front will quickly push eastward through the Rio Grande Valley this evening between 6pm to 9pm MDT. A brief period of gusty winds and light rain/snow will reach areas from Albuquerque to Santa Fe with the fropa, likely with some patchy blowing dust closer to Albuquerque. Low visibility is not expected with any blowing dust as was observed yesterday however for Albuquerque. Precipitation chances trend down near the center of the H5 low as it tracks over central NM along the I-40 corridor tonight, with higher chances around its western and northern peripheries. Wrap around moisture will continue snow through western NM and the northern mountains. Meanwhile, a surface backdoor cold front is still progged to push through northeastern NM bringing favorable easterly upslope flow into the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains past midnight through Saturday morning. This will bring the highest snow accumulations of 12 to 20 inches over the Sangre de Cristo's above 9,500 feet. Accumulations of 4 to 8 inches is forecast for the adjacent northeastern highlands along the I-25 corridor from Glorieta Pass to Raton Pass, inflicting winter travel impacts there. Lower amounts of 2 to 4 inches will favor the northeastern plains out toward the TX/OK line and the central highlands near Clines Corners along I-40. Elsewhere the western high terrain, Jemez and Tusas Mountains will favor totals of 4 to 10 inches. Notable uncertainty remains along the I-40 corridor for Quay County and eastern San Miguel where forecast temperatures hover around the mid to upper 30s during the best window for precipitation Saturday. The current snow accumulations there are a dusting to an inch, however 1 to 3 inches are the high end potential if temperatures trend colder than what is forecast there. Albuquerque to Santa Fe look to get a dusting to perhaps an inch in the foothills. Lower southern valley areas like Socorro and Roswell will miss out on any snow accumulations with the center of the low staying north of their locations. The center of the low exits eastward into TX and then OK Saturday afternoon with the western edge of the low bringing loitering flurries and light snow showers favoring the Sangre de Cristo Mts and adjacent highlands. A stray late day snow or rain shower could reach places from Espanola to Santa Fe to Vaughn to Ruidoso Saturday afternoon before all is said and done. Conditions clear out areawide Saturday night. && .LONG TERM... (Sunday through Friday) Issued at 124 PM MST Fri Mar 7 2025 Northerly flow Sunday morning will give way to an upper level ridge moving over NM on Sunday afternoon. Conditions should be beautiful areawide with light winds and temperatures rising to near normal. The upper level ridge will translate eastward Sunday night through mid day Monday. Strong overnight inversions are expected Sunday night. By Monday afternoon, southwest flow will prevail over NM, and locally breezy conditions will arrive as a 999-1001mb surface low deepens over eastern CO. Downsloping will allow temperatures to rise further, with high temperatures likely to be up to 15 degrees above normal across eastern NM. The remainder of the work week looks windy with Friday capping off the week with a potentially widespread damaging wind event. More on that in the next paragraph. First, winds will increase on Tuesday ahead of another storm system set to cross the state Tuesday night and Wednesday. The strongest winds will be near and south of I-40 with gusts between 30 and 45 mph common. The highest elevations across the Southwest and South Central Mountains could see gusts top 50 mph. Otherwise, another warm day with high temperatures near to above normal. The system crossing Tuesday night is not as cold nor as strong as the system crossing tonight. Nonetheless, some precipitation is expected, with models currently favoring southwest portions of the CWA for snow above 6.5-7kft and rain below. The system will quickly eject over the Texas Panhandles by mid day Wednesday, but strong northwest winds behind the system will impact areas from the Sandia, Manzano and South Central Mountains eastward to the Texas border. Gusts above 50 mph are expected around KCQC with gusts between 40 and 50 mph likely elsewhere. Shortwave ridging will shift over the state Wednesday night, then another system will be on approach for the end of the week. A deep trough will shift eastward over the Great Basin on Thursday. Southwest winds at H7 will increase to between 35 and 45kt over NM by Thursday afternoon. With strong mixing, much of this momentum will mix to the surface and widespread windy conditions are expected with surface gusts between 40 and 50 mph. This may just be the appetizer for Friday, however. On Friday, the aforementioned trough will cross the Rockies and models are currently showing rapid lee side cyclogenesis taking place. The MSLP for the surface low across eastern CO drops to 971mb per the 12Z GFS and 983mb per the 12Z EC. Though this is a large spread, and the spread is much larger when additional models and ensembles are factored in, either of these scenarios would result in a very strong pressure gradient over NM. Combine this with the potential for >60kt at H7 and strong mixing at least over eastern NM and we could be looking at a widespread damaging wind event with speeds rivaling or topping some of the strongest we've seen this year so far. Now, this is Day 8 of the forecast, and plenty of time for things to change. The system could slow up or down, cloud cover and precipitation could be more than currently expected impacting mixing heights, etc. Nonetheless, this will be a system to watch going forward. With the gusty winds forecast Tuesday through at least Friday, blowing dust will increasingly become a concern, especially if little precipitation is noted with the Tuesday night system. For now, it appears Tues-Thurs, blowing dust should be mostly confined to Chaves Co. in our CWA, but if Friday is as bad as it could be, widespread dust with low visibility would also be a concern. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1043 AM MST Fri Mar 7 2025 VFR is present over much of central and eastern NM as MVFR conditions from an upper low centered near KPHX in AZ is entering far western NM at KGUP and KGNT. Rain and snow showers will steadily expand along and west of the Continental Divide this afternoon. Snow levels fall and and snow showers expand over the northern mountains late today and this evening, spreading further over northern and northeastern NM tonight into Saturday morning as the center of the upper low tracks west to east along the I-40 corridor. IFR to LIFR from snow with mountain obscurations will be common across western and northern NM during these times. A brief period of MVFR conditions is included at the KABQ and KAEG terminals for the frontal passage from the west early this evening from 01Z to 04Z. KSAF will be on the edge of these MVFR conditions more impactful IFR conditions to their northeast this evening and overnight. A backdoor cold front pushing through northeastern NM bringing a northeasterly to easterly wind shift to KRTN-KCAO- KLVS-KTCC will be the additional push to produce more widespread IFR/LIFR conditions along and east of the Sangre de Cristo Mts tonight. Clearing conditions fill in behind this storm system through western NM tonight, reaching central NM and the Rio Grande Valley Saturday morning, and eastern NM Saturday afternoon. Southern valley areas near KONM and KROW look to avoid the winter precipitation, but could see some blowing dust concerns this afternoon as winds pickup. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 124 PM MST Fri Mar 7 2025 A winter storm crossing the state from AZ tonight through Saturday brings winter weather mainly to the western and northern halves of the state. Precipitation, lesser winds around the core of the low and lower temperatures will damper any fire weather concerns. Temperatures rebound quickly Sunday as a ridge of high pressure passes over the state. Light prevailing winds Sunday give way to strengthening southwesterly winds Monday and especially Tuesday as the ridge breaks down and the next storm system approaches the region from the west. Elevated fire weather results Monday afternoon through south-central and southeastern NM with more critical fire weather Tuesday afternoon as winds increase in strength. The aforementioned storm system will be fast moving quickly crossing the state Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Elevated fire weather conditions fill in behind this system Wednesday morning with critical fire weather favored again Thursday afternoon as dry and warm southwesterly winds return. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 28 48 22 56 / 80 20 0 0 Dulce........................... 20 45 10 56 / 90 40 0 0 Cuba............................ 20 42 17 54 / 80 40 0 0 Gallup.......................... 19 43 9 58 / 60 30 0 0 El Morro........................ 20 41 19 55 / 70 30 0 0 Grants.......................... 18 46 13 59 / 50 20 0 0 Quemado......................... 22 41 16 55 / 90 50 0 0 Magdalena....................... 24 44 24 57 / 30 30 0 0 Datil........................... 22 41 21 56 / 60 40 0 0 Reserve......................... 21 48 12 61 / 70 40 0 0 Glenwood........................ 27 53 19 64 / 80 50 0 0 Chama........................... 19 40 12 50 / 100 50 0 0 Los Alamos...................... 25 39 23 52 / 80 50 5 0 Pecos........................... 22 38 18 54 / 90 90 5 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 21 38 17 50 / 90 70 0 0 Red River....................... 16 29 13 43 / 100 90 0 0 Angel Fire...................... 17 32 7 46 / 100 90 5 0 Taos............................ 21 41 12 52 / 90 50 0 0 Mora............................ 20 35 16 52 / 100 100 5 0 Espanola........................ 27 47 19 59 / 90 50 5 0 Santa Fe........................ 23 38 23 52 / 90 70 10 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 24 43 21 56 / 90 60 5 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 29 47 30 59 / 60 40 5 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 29 49 28 61 / 50 30 0 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 29 52 26 63 / 50 30 0 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 29 50 27 62 / 50 20 0 0 Belen........................... 28 52 22 64 / 30 30 0 0 Bernalillo...................... 28 50 26 62 / 60 30 5 0 Bosque Farms.................... 27 52 23 62 / 40 30 0 0 Corrales........................ 29 51 26 62 / 50 30 0 0 Los Lunas....................... 28 51 24 63 / 30 30 0 0 Placitas........................ 27 45 27 58 / 70 40 5 0 Rio Rancho...................... 29 50 27 61 / 50 30 0 0 Socorro......................... 30 54 27 65 / 20 20 0 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 23 41 24 54 / 70 50 5 0 Tijeras......................... 25 43 25 55 / 60 50 5 0 Edgewood........................ 21 42 21 56 / 60 50 5 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 18 42 16 60 / 60 50 5 0 Clines Corners.................. 21 33 20 55 / 60 80 5 0 Mountainair..................... 21 42 21 58 / 40 40 5 0 Gran Quivira.................... 22 41 21 57 / 30 40 0 0 Carrizozo....................... 26 46 25 60 / 30 50 5 0 Ruidoso......................... 22 39 24 54 / 30 70 5 0 Capulin......................... 21 29 17 49 / 100 90 0 0 Raton........................... 24 34 15 55 / 100 90 0 0 Springer........................ 25 34 12 53 / 100 90 0 0 Las Vegas....................... 22 33 17 57 / 90 90 5 0 Clayton......................... 26 33 23 59 / 90 90 5 0 Roy............................. 25 33 18 54 / 90 90 5 0 Conchas......................... 31 39 23 61 / 80 70 5 0 Santa Rosa...................... 30 36 24 61 / 50 70 0 0 Tucumcari....................... 31 37 24 62 / 80 70 10 0 Clovis.......................... 33 40 28 63 / 50 50 5 0 Portales........................ 33 42 26 63 / 40 50 5 0 Fort Sumner..................... 31 42 24 62 / 30 40 0 0 Roswell......................... 36 53 30 67 / 5 30 0 0 Picacho......................... 28 48 27 61 / 10 60 0 0 Elk............................. 24 47 24 58 / 10 60 0 0 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM MST Saturday for NMZ202>206- 208. Winter Storm Warning until 11 AM MST Saturday for NMZ210-211- 213>215-227>231. Winter Weather Advisory from 5 PM this afternoon to 11 AM MST Saturday for NMZ212-216. Winter Weather Advisory from 2 AM to 11 AM MST Saturday for NMZ223. && SHORT TERM...24 LONG TERM....34 AVIATION...24
Preliminary Local Storm Report...Summary
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
937 AM MST Fri Mar 7 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1251 PM Dust Storm 3 SW Roswell 33.34N 104.57W
03/06/2025 Chaves NM Law Enforcement
Roswell Relief Route between McGaffey and
Sunset closed due to high winds and near
zero visibility.
0147 PM Dust Storm 3 WNW Petroglyph Nation 35.15N 106.79W
03/06/2025 Bernalillo NM AWOS
Visibility fell to under 1/4SM at the Double
Eagle II Airport.
0231 PM Dust Storm 6 ESE Roswell Correctio 33.10N 104.44W
03/06/2025 Chaves NM Law Enforcement
NMDOT closed U.S. Hwy 285 from MMs 77 to 101
between Roswell and Artesia due to brown out
conditions from blowing dust.
0233 PM Dust Storm 4 NE South Valley 35.04N 106.63W
03/06/2025 Bernalillo NM NWS Employee
NWS meteorologists observed visibility fall
below 1/4 SM at the office from blowing
dust.
0340 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Dmg Las Vegas 35.61N 105.22W
03/06/2025 San Miguel NM Law Enforcement
Photos show power pole broken from high wind
gusts.
0615 PM Dust Storm 4 W Midway 33.30N 104.52W
03/06/2025 Chaves NM Public
Social media photo taken from a plane that
just landed at KROW indicates near brownout
conditions. Relayed via NWSChat.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 heavy snow, 1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
The Roswell Relief Route from mile marker 108, Sunset Avenue, to mile marker 111, McGaffey Road, was closed due to brownout conditions and near zero visibility from blowing dust.
The Miami CoCoRaHS measured 12.3 inches of snow. Amounts elsewhere in the zone ranged from 2 to 8 inches.
An estimated 10 inches of snow was observed at the Hopewell SNOTEL.
The Sipapu Ski area measured 21 inches of snow.
The San Cristobal CoCoRaHS measured 9 inches of snow. Amounts elsewhere in the zone ranged from 7 to 8 inches.
The Chacon CoCoRaHS measured 15.2 inches of snow.
A CoCoRaHS between Capulin and Clayton measured 5 inches of snow.
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 historyWarnings in New Mexico, March 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: 1233971, 1233469, 1233465, 1233466, 1233468, 1233467, 1233470.