A winter storm will bring widespread chances of snow and rain across New Mexico Wednesday through Thursday. Two feet of snow will be possible in the northern mountains!
Mild weather continued Tuesday afternoon in New Mexico, despite increased cloud cover across the state. The clouds are a sign of increasing moisture ahead of the storm system that will move into New Mexico on Wednesday. Starting Wednesday morning, scattered showers will develop across central, northern, and eastern New Mexico, with snow falling above 7,000′. Through the middle of the day Wednesday, rain will continue to fall in eastern New Mexico, with some showers at times. Heavy, wet snow will develop north of I-40 to I-25 and into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Central New Mexico will see drier weather Wednesday afternoon. Travel will begin to become difficult along I-25 from outside Santa Fe to Raton and roads in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains starting Wednesday afternoon. A Winter Storm Warning goes into effect for the northern mountains and northeastern New Mexico Wednesday morning where 4-10″ of snow is possible, and 10-24″ above 7,500′. There are also Winter Weather Advisories in effect for the Upper Rio Grande Valley and East Mountains where a few inches of snow will fall.
Snow and rain will begin to increase in intensity Wednesday evening as the core of the storm system begins to move into New Mexico. More rain and even some thunderstorms will develop for areas mainly along and south of I-40. Also heavy snowfall will develop in the northern and eastern mountains of northeastern New Mexico. Snow will also fall in the upper Rio Grande Valley, northwest/western parts of the state and from the East Mountains to Clines Corners. The worst road conditions will develop Thursday morning from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and east to I-25 where travel may be impossible at times. Temperatures may be cold enough to bring a mix of rain and snow up I-40 in eastern New Mexico. Metro Albuquerque will see mostly rain, but we could see a few snow showers or light snow Thursday morning. There will also be some light snow accumulation in the Upper Rio Grande Valley.
Snow and rain will continue in northern and eastern New Mexico for most of Thursday, but should decrease in intensity. A few thunderstorms will also be possible across the southeastern part of the state. Snow and rain will fall throughout the day from west to east across the state. Temperatures will also be much cooler on Thursday.
Drier returns the time Friday. We will also begin a gradual warming trend Friday afternoon. The calmer weather will continue through the weekend and into early next week.
