Two back to back winter storm systems impacted northern and central NM with the first from late January 7th through the morning of January 8th with the second colder system crossing the state late January 8th through the afternoon of January 9th. The first storm brought snow to mainly the mountains and nearby highlands, with valley and plains locations receiving mainly rain.
Every event with a place to put it; 13 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.
Two back to back winter storm systems impacted northern and central NM with the first from late January 7th through the morning of January 8th with the second colder system crossing the state late January 8th through the afternoon of January 9th. The first storm brought snow to mainly the mountains and nearby highlands, with valley and plains locations receiving mainly rain. Gusty west winds were observed across the central highlands midday on January 8th between the two storm systems with a peak wind gust of 65 mph at a Ziamet station southeast of Vaughn. The second storm system approached the state during the afternoon hours of January 8th with western New Mexico impacted by a band of snow on the leading edge of the storm. This band of snow moved into the middle Rio Grande Valley during the evening. This band contained a convective storm with large hail and graupel across the Albuquerque metro area. Accumulating graupel and hail forced the closure of I-40 west of Albuquerque with one inch diameter hail and graupel observed at the National Weather Service office. As the core of the system moved into western NM the night of January 8th and early morning of January 9th, a wraparound snow band brought moderate to heavy snow across northwest and north-central NM, including Farmington, Taos, and Santa Fe. Moderate to heavy snow then shifted to northeast NM on the north side of the storm during the morning and midday hours of January 9th. North wind gusts of up to 45 mph resulted in blowing snow and near whiteout conditions and the temporary closures of I-25 at Raton Pass and U.S. Highway 64/87 between Raton and Clayton. Snow across northeast NM tapered off during the early evening hours as the system exited into the central Great Plains. A lingering band of snow across Espanola, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, and Glorieta brought some light snow during the evening hours of January 9th before skies finally cleared up and temperatures plummeted overnight.
In the end, snowfall amounts of 2 to 6 inches were observed across lower elevations of northwest and north central New Mexico, 4 to 7 inches across the Jemez and Tusas Mountains with an estimated 10 inches at the Bateman SNOTEL site in the southern Tusas Mountains. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains observed 1 to 2 feet of snow with the higher end of this range observed at Ski Santa Fe and the Santa Fe SNOTEL site. The eastern foothills of the Albuquerque Metro observed 1 to 2 inches of a snow and graupel mix and the Sandia and Manzano Mountains observing around 5 to 9 inches of snow with locally a foot on the Sandia Crest. The west-central and southwest mountains observed around 3 to 5 inches of snow with locally up to an estimated 16 inches at Whitewater Baldy Peak. Finally, the Ruidoso area observed around 1 to 4 inches of snow with 10 inches at Sierra Blanca Peak and Ski Apache.
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 7, 1:57 PM MST, 3 minutes earlier.
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</html>The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 153 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:26 UTC.
10 heavy snow, 2 hail, 1 winter storm, 1 high wind, 1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
The Silver Creek Divide SNOTEL observed an estimated 16 inches of snowfall. CoCoRaHS observers along U.S. Highway 60 between Quemado and Datil measured an overall 3 to 5 inches of snowfall.
The Rice Park SNOTEL measured an estimated 9 inches of snowfall. A CoCoRaHS observer in Ramah observed 4.1 inches of snowfall.
The Bateman SNOTEL in the southern Tusas Mountains observed an estimated 10 inches of snowfall. An estimated 4 to 7 inches of snowfall was observed across the rest of the zone.
Ski Santa Fe observed an 23 inches of snowfall. An estimated 10 to 18 inches of snowfall was observed across the rest of the zone.
Sandia Peak Ski Area observed 12 inches of snowfall. CoCoRaHS observers across the rest of the zone measured 5 to 9 inches of snowfall.
CoCoRaHS observers along and south of I-25 at Glorieta observed 7 to 10 inches of snowfall.
Taos Ski Valley observed 13 inches of snowfall. An estimated 5 to 10 inches of snowfall was observed across the rest of the zone.
The ziamet station southeast of Vaughn observed a peak wind gust of 65 mph.
CoCoRaHS observers on the northern and eastern areas of Taos observed 8 to 9.5 inches of snowfall. CoCoRaHS observers in Ranchos de Taos observed 5.5 inches of snowfall.
The Bernalillo County Sherriff Office reported the closure of I-40 at mile marker 140 west of Albuquerque to be closed from accumulating graupel/hail on the highway.
Quarter sized hail/graupel observed at the National Weather Service office.
The Raton Pass Port of Entry observed 7 inches of snowfall. The COOP observer in Capulin observed 6.4 inches of snowfall.
The contract snow observer in Clayton measured 6.6 inches of snowfall. A CoCoRaHS observer 7.2 miles east-northeast of Grenville measured 5 inches of snowfall.
A CoCoRaHS observer in Miami, NM observed an average snowfall of 6 inches and a CoCoRaHS observer in Raton observed an average snowfall of 5 inches.
The Raton ASOS measured wind chills falling as low as -19F.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, January 2026
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: 1299782, 1299781, 1299783, 1299787, 1299790, 1299784, 1299786, 1299785, 1299789, 1299778, 1299777, 1299792, 1299794, 1299793, 1299779.