Wintry weather will move into parts of New Mexico overnight. Snow may cause travel problems in parts of the state by Thursday morning.
Wednesday has been the calm before the storm in New Mexico. High temperatures have climbed a few to 10° warmer compared to Tuesday. Rain, thunderstorms and snow is developing tonight in western New Mexico, with snow already falling in the Gallup area.
The heaviest snow with this storm will fall early Thursday morning across parts of western and northwest New Mexico. Areas along I-40 and US 550 will become slick and snow covered from Cuba to Gallup and Grants as a line of heavy snow will likely develop. This will likely cause some travel problems for Thursday morning. Mountain snow and valley rain will move into many areas along and north of I-40 in the northern half of New Mexico Thursday morning. There will even be a mix of rain and snow Thursday morning around the Albuquerque Metro, with the best chance for any light accumulations around Rio Rancho and the East Mountains. Heavier snow may fall along I-25 from La Bajada north to Santa Fe and Española. These are also areas where we could run into travel problems in the morning hours.
The rain and snow will quickly taper off by Thursday afternoon, but there will still be some spotty rain and snow showers sticking around into the evening. Temperatures will also be much cooler Thursday all across New Mexico with breezy to windy conditions in the southern half of the state. Another round of wintry weather will move into northwest New Mexico early Friday morning. This could bring a dusting to an additional inch of snowfall to this part of the state before 7 am.
Once again there will be a slight break in the action mid-Friday morning before another storm system brings more snow and rain by Friday afternoon. Temperatures are going to remain cold Friday, so snow levels will likely sit around 6,500′. Accumulating snow will be likely through the day Friday for areas across western and northern New Mexico, along with the East Mountains. We’ll see a chance for isolated showers in the Albuquerque Metro. There is a little more uncertainty with a potential third wave of snowfall Saturday morning.
Quieter weather will return by Saturday evening, but temperatures will remain cold through the weekend. A warming trend will start early next week with quiet weather sticking around through at least the middle of the week.
