New Mexico Daily Snow

Heads up, there may be fresher snow! Read the latest New Mexico Daily Snow

By Julien Ross, Forecaster Posted 1 year ago November 25, 2022

The perfect southern storm

Summary

The Thanksgiving storm has stalled over southern New Mexico and is pounding the Sacramentos. Ski Apache is already at double digits as of Friday morning and could reach 2+ feet of snow by Saturday. The next chance of snow in the northern mountains will be Tuesday.

Short Term Forecast

On Friday morning, the Thanksgiving storm that dropped a foot of snow at Cuchara and 3-6" at Angel Fire is now stalled along the Mexico border. The storm is wrapping Gulf moisture counterclockwise into the southern mountains which can be seen on the water vapor satellite.

This is the perfect setup with cold temperatures from the cold front, ample moisture from the Gulf, and strong upslope flow from the east winds. The radar shows steady snow bands wrapping into the southern mountains.

The SNOTEL site at Sierra Blanca (10,268 ft) next to Ski Apache is at 1.1" of snow water equivalent as of 6 am Friday which is roughly a foot of snow. The webcams show good accumulation and a total whiteout at the base of Ski Apache.

I wouldn't be surprised if Ski Apache gets to 20 inches by the time the system moves out overnight Friday. Just in time for Ski Apache's opening day on Saturday (weather permitting, check Ski Apache website for the latest updates). What a great Thanksgiving gift for the southern mountains which have struggled immensely during this triple-dip La Niña period.

Meanwhile, the northern mountains are basking in sunlight Friday morning. 

The northern mountains will warm up Friday and Saturday before cool air returns Sunday and Monday ahead of the next storm arriving Tuesday. If going up to get some turns in on Friday, dress for brisk winds of up to 20 mph gusts.

Extended Forecast

After several warm sunny days on Friday and Saturday, a cold dry system will lower temperatures by 5 to 10 degrees on Sunday and Monday. Look for stronger winds on Sunday and Monday as well.

Then on Tuesday, a winter storm is forecast to graze the northern mountains with a refresh of 1-4" of snow. We are still 4 days out so things can shift. But unfortunately, it looks like we will get the strongest winds with this storm (gusts 40-60mph), and miss the best snowfall to the north.

Temperatures will drop into the teens on Tuesday and single digits overnight into Wednesday above 10,000 feet with biting winds.

November 30th to December 2nd will likely be dry.

Then around December 3rd-4th we could see some storminess return to the region.

Thanks for reading! I will post again on Saturday, November 26th.

JULIEN ROSS
[email protected]

Announcements

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OpenSnow is proud to sponsor this upcoming event to support Taos Avalanche Center (TAC) on December 7th at Tumbleroot Brewery in Santa Fe. Social hour starts at 6pm followed by a viewing of Spirit of the Peaks at 7pm. There is a suggested donation of $10 directly to TAC. TAC is the only avalanche center in NM and the goal is to raise money to fund future forecasts and expand forecasts to the Santa Fe area. 

Opening Dates (consult with resort website and social media for latest updates)

→ Sipapu: OPEN
Red River: OPEN
Ski Santa Fe: OPEN
Taos: OPEN
Ski Apache: November 26
Angel Fire: December 16
Pajarito: TBD

New Mexico Geography Key

Northern Mountains
→ Red River, Taos Ski Valley (north side of northern mountains - Sangre de Cristos)
→ Angel Fire (northeast side of northern mountains - Sangre de Cristos)
→ Sipapu (middle of the northern mountains - Sangre de Cristos)
→ Ski Santa Fe (south side of the northern mountains - Sangre de Cristos)
→ Pajarito (southwest side of the northern mountains - Jemez)

Central Mountains
→ Sandia Peak (Sandias)
→ Mt. Taylor backcountry (San Mateos)

Southern Mountains
→ Ski Apache (Sacramentos)
→ Ski Cloudcroft (Sacramentos)

About Our Forecaster

Julien Ross

Forecaster

Julien was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was introduced to skiing at age 7 through the public schools subsidized ski program at Ski Santa Fe. It was love at first turn and Julien has been chasing deep powder and good mogul lines ever since. Julien grew up fascinated by weather and studied physical geography with a focus on meteorology at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.

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