New Mexico Daily Snow

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By Julien Ross, Forecaster Posted 1 year ago December 2, 2022

Turbulence Fri-Mon, glimmers of hope for Dec. 7-10

Summary

Several systems will pass to our north on Friday and through the weekend bringing mostly windy conditions to the northern mountains with very little precipitation. The southern mountains will see good precipitation on Saturday and Sunday but most of this will fall as rain. There are glimmers of hope for snow around December 7th and 10th but with very little confidence.

Short Term Forecast

A quick Thursday evening update. The short-term outlook is beginning to feel like a Groundhog Day of unrelenting wind with a painful tease of snow falling to our north. 

This will certainly be the case on Friday as a fast-moving system similar in nature to the event on Tuesday will sideswipe New Mexico with brutal winds on Friday and winds will return on Saturday as well.

We could see a few snow flurries on Friday in the northern Sangres but I am not expecting any snow accumulation.

Wolf Creek could see 4-6 inches similar to Tuesday's storm. I think moisture will be too limited and the storm orientation too far north and fast-moving for Wolf Creek to score a full-on powder day on Friday but conditions should be soft and possibly a low-end powder day.

On Saturday and Sunday, another system to our north will draw in moisture from Baja into the desert southwest. Precipitation will favor the southern mountains but temperatures will be too warm and this will likely fall as rain at Ski Apache and Ski Cloudcroft. The highest peaks and ridges next to Ski Apache (Sierra Blanca-11,981ft) could see wet snow. The northern mountains could see a dusting of snow.

With moisture being drawn into the region over the weekend, we could see some unexpected snow in places that do well with orographic lift. Taos Ski Valley and Ski Santa Fe would be favored for maybe a surprise 1-2" over the weekend coming in bits and pieces.

I am afraid the main story in the northern mountains the next 3 to 5 days will be strong winds and not much precipitation. 

Extended Forecast

There are some glimmers of hope in the extended 7 to 10-day forecast that the storm track could dip further south. Confidence here is near zero but it is good to have some potential good news on the horizon.

The first possibility would be around December 7th.

The next would be around December 10th.

In the meantime, brace for winds and hopefully minimal lift delays and closures between Friday and Monday.

Thanks for reading! I will check back in on Friday.

JULIEN ROSS
[email protected]

Announcements

Taos Avalanche Center Fundraiser in Santa Fe, December 7th

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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