Most Significant Snowstorm of the Winter Season Strikes New Mexico March 13th - 15th

Surface temperatures on Saturday, March 12th

Surface temperatures on Sunday, March 13th

The start of Spring was just a week away and temperatures prior to the strongest snow storm of the winter season had climbed into the 60s, 70s and 80s across much of  the state.  Many residents of New Mexico had begun the winter cleanup of their yards, trimmed trees and bushes, and fertilized their lawns.  But old man winter had one last gasp, or in this case it was more of a blast.  

A strong cold front swept through the eastern plains early on the13th.  The two images above show surface temperatures on the afternoons of the 12th and 13th, revealing the cold air pouring into the east.  Meanwhile a storm was brewing in the Pacific Northwest on the 12th.  It dove south into the Great Basin by the 14th as it gathered strength, then crossed New Mexico on the 15th.  This was not a particularly powerful storm, but it was getting stronger and stronger as it moved into the Southwest.  In addition, the cold front delivered strong and long duration upslope winds to the eastern half of the state.  Not only was the air behind this front quite cold, but it was very moist.  Thus, a deep layer of cold, moist air set up east of the central mountain chain on the 13th and persisted through the 15th.  This resulted in heavy snow across much of the east central and northeast portions of New Mexico, but especially along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo and Sandia mountains.  

The sample radar image to the right shows widespread precipitation across the state during the late afternoon of the 13th, while the radar image directly below shows precipitation primarily focused along the east slopes of the central mountains into the Northeast by the evening hours of the 14th.  The image below and to the right shows how cold it was on the afternoon of the 15th as the storm crossed the state. Temperatures on the morning of the 16th were exceptionally cold, including many record lows.  The visible satellite image far below illustrates just how widespread this snow event was, while the table far below and to the right lists the more impressive snowfall totals from this late winter storm.  Click here for a detailed map showing many more snowfall reports.  

Radar image showing widespread precipitation 

 the afternoon of Sunday, March 13th

Radar image showing precipitation concentrated along the east slopes of the Central Mountain Chain the afternoon of Monday, March 14th

Afternoon surface temperatures on Tuesday, March 15th

(Click here for specific map data)

Visible satellite image showing deep snow cover over the

 northern two-thirds of New Mexico on Wednesday, March 16th