Weeks of unseasonably warm air on Dec. 27, without a drop of moisture or snow flakes, brought a light rain to Albuquerque on Saturday, leaving several inches of snow in the northern mountains. “This is a nice change from what we saw last month – record high temperatures but no precipitation,” said Nico Porcelli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. “We’re finally getting back to winter.” Gray clouds rolled in over the tops of Sandia Mountains, and light rain fell on the foothills throughout the day. Undeterred, cyclists and hikers ride the trails at Elena Gallegos Open Space, where mule deer rut into the early morning hours. Persistent drizzle brought eight percent of an inch of rain to the Albuquerque Airport and less than a tenth of an inch to the rest of the state. Porcelli said the Sangre de Cristos and mountain ranges in the northern part of the state were hardest hit by the snowfall. He said 3 to 4 inches of powder fell at the tops of Ski Santa Fe, Taos Ski Valley and the Tusas Mountains, but most of the snow turned to rain below 8,000 feet. Porcelli said looking ahead to the next few days, Albuquerque will be drier with temperatures slightly above average but colder than last week’s record-breaking high temperatures. A backdoor cold front moving through Sunday is expected to bring rain to a wide swath of southern New Mexico, with several inches of snow possible at the top of the Guadalupe Mountains west of Carlsbad, he said. Next week, low temperatures are expected to drop into the 20s in Albuquerque and into the single digits and teens in northern New Mexico. Porcelli said a storm system later this week could bring further precipitation. “If it does get cold enough, we might see some snow,” he added.
Gray skies and drizzle swing low across New Mexico as snow falls high
