How much snow can we expect at sites in New Mexico in an average year? 

Frequency of Snow Events Across New Mexico

  > 1 inch snow in the last: > 2 inches snow in the last: > 3 inches snow in the last: > 4 inches snow in the last:
Location 10 years 20 years 30 years 10 years 20 years 30 years 10 years 20 years 30 years 10 years 20 years 30 years
ABQ Sunport 16 46 83 8 24 44 6 11 17 5 6 11
ABQ Foothills 78 NA NA 36 NA NA 20 NA NA 9 NA NA
ABQ Valley 15 NA NA 9 NA NA 8 NA NA 5 NA NA
Chama 206 408 651 145 286 464 94 196 320 58 135 220
Deming 2 9 19 2 6 14 0 1 6 0 1 5
Tucumcari 56 96 147 33 54 85 19 34 52 13 25 35
Clovis 29 61 98 18 35 63 11 21 39 9 15 21
Roswell 18 32 71 11 18 44 9 13 26 6 8 14
Hobbs 0 7 31 0 3 21 0 1 17 0 0 9
Des Moines 118 NA NA 69 NA NA 39 NA NA 32 NA NA
Ruidoso 72 117 178 51 85 127 33 53 85 21 34 54


When can we expect the first snow accumulations?
First Snowfall Dates across Northern and Central New Mexico

 "First snowfall' is defined as the first occurence of snowfall accumulation of 0.1 inch or greater during the season.  Generally, the first snowfall occurs earlier in the season across the higher elevations and northern locations of the state compared to southern locales.   For the highest terrain in northern New Mexico, the first snowfall often occurs late in the summer and statistics for those locations are not available. 

The graphic to the right shows observation sites for which first snowfall statistics are available, including the earliest date on record and the average first dates. Click here for the complete feature. For a tabular view of the first snowfall data , click here.

 Map of CWA ABQ with sites marking locations with first snow information
 
 
What are the average snow accumulations across New Mexico?
Snow Climatology Maps

Note that these maps were constructed using data from airport and cooperative observer reports (noted by the black dots) located below 9000 feet MSL. They do not include ski resorts. The only station in the database above 9000 feet MSL is Sandia Crest, located just east of Albuquerque, at 10,678 feet MSL. Snow varies considerably across the rugged terrain of New Mexico, and extreme amounts are not depicted here. Click on the images for a larger map.
 
 
 
 
USA.gov is the U.S. government's official web portal to all federal, state and local government web resources and services.