Saturday, March 13, 1999

Winter Springs Storm on State
Ski Areas Gain Snow; Northern Roads Ice Up

New Mexico Latest Weather Conditions and Forecasts

Journal Staff Reports
A blast of winter finally arrived in New Mexico on Friday -- but it's expected to be a short visit.
The swift-moving storm was welcomed by many: It dumped several inches of snow on ski areas and brought a little moisture to a state that's been parched since December.
But it also caused treacherous driving conditions across the northern half of the state. Roads were icy and visibility was poor as intermittent snow showers continued throughout the evening.
Santa Fe woke up to snow Friday morning, causing it to close its public schools. Snow continued off and on, totaling about 4 inches by nightfall in the state's capital.
Albuquerque was expected to receive 2 to 3 inches by this morning, and Bernalillo County sheriff's dipsatchers said 2 to 3 inches of snow had accumulated on Interstate 40 in Tijeras Canyon by 9 p.m.
"I heard visibility is pretty low -- at least that's what deputies are reporting," one dispatcher said.
The weather bureau also had reports of 11/2 inches of snow at the airport and 2 to 3 inches along the Sandia foothills at 10:30 p.m.
"We're starting to call out the sand trucks," a dispatcher for the Albuquerque Police Department said earlier. "The freeways are slick."
Meanwhile, the weather was blamed for two power outages Friday night -- one in the Nob Hill neighborhood east of Washington that affected 1,520 residents, and a second east of Four Hills in Tijeras Canyon that affected 920 residents, Public Service Company of New Mexico spokeswoman Sherri Mostaghni said. Crews were able to restore power in the canyon in about an hour after The Four Hills outage, and Nob Hill power was restored by 11:30 p.m.
The state Highway and Transportation Department was reporting snow-packed pavement and discouraging travel overnight on Interstate 40 between Albuquerque and Moriarity and on old Route 66.
The department also said N.M. 14 was slick and icy, and I-25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe was snow-packed and icy. Particularly slick was La Bajada.
Raton Pass was also icy and treacherous, and blowing snow reduced visibility to mere inches, State Police reported.
In Rio Arriba County, N.M. 64 was closed from Tierra Amarilla to Tres Piedras.
Ski New Mexico reported that 4 inches of snow fell on Angel Fire, 6 inches on the Santa Fe Ski Area and 11 inches at Taos Ski Valley by noon Friday. But the snow continued through the evening.
Across the state, only a handful of communities received even half their normal amounts of rain and snow for December, January and February. Albuquerque had just 0.34 of an inch of precipitation during that time, less than a quarter of normal.
The dryness continued into March, with the city getting only 0.1 inch until Thursday, when a rain overnight doubled that.
Forecasters say the storm will move out of the state today, with the highs expected to hit the mid-50s in Albuquerque.
By Sunday, sunny skies should return, with highs in the mid-60s.

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