The National Weather Service in Albuquerque is tracking a winter storm that is predicted to sweep across New Mexico on Monday and into Tuesday morning.
A forecast model posted to the agency’s Twitter feed show a storm moving through central New Mexico, beginning in the west and expanding to cover a large area south of Interstate 40 across the state, bringing with it plenty of snow and wind.
“For the southwestern mountains — so this will mainly be Catron and western Socorro counties — we have (predicted) general amounts of 2 to 4 inches with higher amounts up to 8 to 10 inches,” said Randall Hergert, a meteorologist with the agency.
As the system moves, it will consolidate its impact over the southeastern region of the state.
“The focus area for the most impactful winter weather from snowfall is over the highlands, from Clines Corners down through Vaughn and Corona down to Ruidoso where there’s forecast to be a wide band of snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches, maybe as high as 10 inches in some spots,” Hergert said.
In the eastern plains, this storm will be the first substantial snowfall of the season for many areas of the region, Hergert said.
“We haven’t seen a snow like this yet this season in some of these areas,” Hergert said.
For the Albuquerque metro area, chances of snow are slim. But high winds from the east have descended on the middle Rio Grande valley, prompting travel advisories from the agency for motorists and a health alert from Albuquerque and Bernalillo County due to blowing dust impacting air quality.
“Add extra time, slow down a little bit, because those winds could really be very dangerous for high-profile vehicles like semis or large trucks,” Hergert said. “If you can, just delay your travel through eastern New Mexico for Tuesday morning because a lot of places are going to be quite treacherous to get through.”
