Virtually All Of NM Under Winter Storm Watches/Warnings!

- December 21, 2011

Click On The Maps To Enlarge Them.

Maps Are Courtesy Of The Midland NWS Office.

Map is Courtesy Of The Lubbock NWS Office.

Maps Are Courtesy Of The Albuquerque NWS Office.

Maps Are Courtesy Of The El Paso NWS Office.

WHITE CHRISTMAS FOR SE NM!

Every county in New Mexico is under some type of Winter Weather Advisory, Winter Storm Watch, or Winter Storm Warning for late tonight into Friday. Only the southern half of Lea County is not covered by a Winter Storm Watch at this time. A Special Weather Statement has also been issued for this event for SE NM by the Midland National Weather Service Office.

A strong arctic cold front is still on track to arrive in SE NM tomorrow morning. A strong and cold upper-level storm is still forecast to drop into the Four-Corners area by tomorrow, and then drift southward to near the Bootheel of Southwestern New Mexico by sunset Friday. This next Major Winter Storm is then forecast to slowly drift eastward or southeastward towards the area into Christmas Eve.

Heavy snow is forecast to fall across Chaves County, Eddy County, northern Lea County, Lincoln County, Otero County, and the Guadalupe Mountains from late tomorrow afternoon through Friday afternoon. Here in Eddy County our forecast calls for 4" - 6" of new snow by Friday afternoon, with an additional 2" or more possible on Christmas Eve.

Across the Chaves County plains 4" or more of snow is forecast to fall by Friday afternoon. Lincoln County is expecting 6" - 10" above 8,000', and 2" - 6" across the lower elevations.

Otero County is expecting 5" - 10" of snowfall across the Sacramento Mountains. 1" - 4" of snowfall is forecast for the Alamogordo and Tularosa areas, while 1" - 3" is forecast for the Las Cruces, Deming and El Paso areas. The T or C and Socorro areas are expecting for 2" - 5" of snowfall. 4" - 8" is forecast for the Silver City area.

North to northeasterly winds at 15-25G35 mph will cause areas of blowing snow across all of the area tomorrow night into Friday. Major travel headaches are going to be possible across the entire area from tomorrow afternoon into Christmas Eve. Roads closures may happen due to heavy snow, blowing snow, poor visibilities below 1/2 of a mile, and snow packed and icy roadways. Please visit this link for the latest updates on potential road closures across NM.

The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction!