A New Mexico Winter Storm Viewed From The Lens Of My Camera.

Cold Front Creates High Winds And Blowing Dust Friday.

12:09 PM MST Friday.

I took this photo just south of Atoka south of Artesia on U.S. Hwy 285 Friday afternoon. Pockets of blowing dust like the one above frequently reduced the visibility along the highway between Carlsbad and Artesia down to less than 1/2 of a mile in spots. 

Southwesterly to westerly winds gusted up to 67 mph at the Artesia Airport Friday afternoon. A gust to 61 mph was clocked at the Carlsbad Airport, and 55 mph at the Roswell Airport. A gust to 67 mph was also recorded in Tatum and 56 mph at the Hobbs Airport. San Augustine Pass on U.S. Hwy 70 east of Las Cruces recorded a peak gust of 77 mph and Salinas Peak northeast of there in the northern Organ Mountains recorded a gust to 81 mph. 

12:15 PM MST Friday.

Pecan leaves are piled 5 feet high along this barbed wire fence along U.S. Hwy 285 2 miles south of Artesia. The high winds swept these leaves out of this Pecan Orchard and created these massive piles.

2:13 PM MST Friday.

As my wife and I departed Roswell and headed west along U.S. Hwy 70 to Ruidoso we could see this virga shower ahead of us. Pockets of blowing dust were still being kicked up in the area but because the cold front had moved through around noontime the wind gusts were not as severe as they were in Eddy County.

Snow Showers Partially Obscuring The Capitan Mountains.

2:35 PM MST Friday.

Inn Of The Mountain Gods - Southwest Of Ruidoso.

4:10 PM MST Friday.

Snow shower bursts some of which were heavy at times dropping the visibility down to less than 1/4 of a mile left 1/2 of an inch of fresh snow on the ground at the Inn Friday afternoon.

5:22 PM MST Friday.

As the storm begin to abate and the clouds lifted part of Sierra Blanca Peak can be seen to the west of the Inn Of The Mountain Gods. 

Winter Wonderland South Of Cloudcroft Saturday Afternoon.

12:49 PM MST Saturday.

12:52 PM MST Saturday.

12:56 PM MST Saturday.

12:58 PM MST Saturday.

We drove to Cloudcroft and headed south and found this winter wonderland scene at the Upper Karr Canyon Campground. Snow and rime icing from Friday's storm had coated the trees and these photos hardly do justice as to the true beauty of the scenery afterwards. 

Near The Sunspot Solar Observatory.

1:46 PM MST Saturday.

Sierra Blanca Peak.

2:16 PM MST Saturday.

2:19 PM MST Saturday.

On our way back from Sunspot we stopped just outside of Cloudcroft where I shot the photos above of Sierra Blanca Peak...looking at the peak northeast of us. I zoomed in with my Nikon D5600 70-300 mm lens.

Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation - On State Hwy 244.

2:59 PM MST Saturday.

Beautiful contrast between the seemingly lifeless cottonwood tree, the pond, the aspens, oaks, pines, and our always amazing deep blue New Mexico skies.

Sierra Blanca Peak.

3:36 PM MST Saturday.

Friday's storm left 1 inch of snow at the Sierra Blanca Snotel near Ski Apache. Just a dusting with 7" on the ground as of this Sunday morning. 

Ski Cloudcroft.

 11:41 AM MST Sunday Morning.

Cloudcroft reported anywhere from 1 to 2 inches of new snow from the storm. 

The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction - And Sometimes It Hurts!