Carlsbad's Heavy Snow Summary & Photos - Turning Colder & Wetter Next Week.
Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Blog Updated At 11:02 AM Sunday, January 4, 2026.
One of the craziest snow events we've seen buried Carlsbad under 6" to 12" of snow beginning early Monday morning, December 29th, before ending later that afternoon. I measured a storm total of 10.2" of snowfall with a max snow depth of 9.0" at 4 PM MST. My liquid content of this heavy wet snow was 1.00"...Water content of the melted snowfall. Between 4 PM and 6 PM, a mix of light sleet and freezing rain occurred.
What made this storm so unusual was that other nearby locations were completely overlooked, including the Roswell, Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, Mountain Park/High Rolls, Guadalupe Pass, and El Paso areas. Queen west of Carlsbad in the Guadalupe Mtn's reported 3" as did the Carlsbad Caverns Visitor Center. Other public reported totals include nearly 10" at the Carlsbad Municipal Golf Course, 8" 9 miles northwest of Carlsbad, 2"-3" in Lakewood, 2"-3" between Mayhill and Cloudcroft, and 1" in Atoka, four miles south of Artesia, and 1"-2" in Midland/Odessa.
This after weeks of above normal to much above normal temps. And after Roswell, Carlsbad, and Elk all set new daily record highs for Christmas.
Another winter storm with weird behavior comes to mind, and that was the "Black Friday" snowstorm, November 24-26, 2022. Click on my blog post link to view the pictures, graphics, and other snowfall reports.
"This has to have been one of the craziest acting snow events I've seen in my lifetime here in Eddy County and the rest of Southeastern New Mexico. And I am 64 years old. I've seen other rain/snow mixed events like this one in the past, but none to this extreme. Hard to believe that Queen at 5,843' got 18" to 20" of snow while Cloudcroft, further to the northwest in the Sacramento mountains at 8,750' measured 7.0" from the storm.
Light rain started falling in Carlsbad late Thanksgiving afternoon and evening. By around 2 AM Friday morning, it had started mixing with and at times changing over to snow here at our home. A steady cold rain, moderate to heavy at times, fell continuously from Thanksgiving night through 5:30 AM Saturday morning. All through the day Friday into early Saturday morning, we saw this back-and-forth mix of rain and snow. Sometimes all rain and sometimes all snow. Heavy wet snow with huge snowflakes few Friday morning, accumulating to 1/2 of an inch on the ground at our home in Carlsbad. But by noon it was gone. My storm total precipitation for the event was 1.38" with 0.5" of snowfall. My family in Atoka, south of Artesia, reported 1.48" and a 1/2 of an inch of snow.
My high temp on Friday was only 35º, and whenever the temp dropped a degree or two, the rain changed over to or mixed with snow. Now here is the really weird part. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, located 16 miles southwest of Carlsbad and 1,200' higher up in elevation, measured 12.0" of snow! With drifts occurring as well. But by far the biggest winner was Queen, located 50 miles west-southwest of Carlsbad at an elevation of 5,843'. They measured 18"-20" of snow! The Mobley Ranch, located east of Loving and southeast of Carlsbad, measured 6"-8" of snow. Locations up and down, east and west of the Pecos Valley, only a couple of hundred feet higher in elevation, picked up anywhere from 4" to 12"+ of snow. While the Roswell, Artesia, and Carlsbad areas had less than an inch. That slight difference in elevation, combined with a couple of degrees of colder temps, made all the difference in the world."
Turning Colder & Wetter Next Week.
Once again, above to well above normal temperatures are forecast to dominate our local weather this weekend into the middle of next week. A few new record highs may occur in the eastern plains on Sunday. Our highs across the southeastern plains on Sunday and Monday will be in the low-mid 70s.
Stronger winds aloft will help produce gusty southwesterly and westerly winds across the central mountain chain and eastward out onto the eastern plains, especially along the I-40 corridor. The strongest winds will likely occur on Thursday and Friday.
A Pacific cold front moves eastward into the state from Wednesday into Thursday, bringing cooler temps and an increasing chance for lowland rain showers and mountain snows. Forecast models disagree, but either an open trough/wave or closed upper-level low will drop south into the Baja Peninsula area Tuesday night into Wednesday morning before swinging east across the state.
Snow levels start out around 8,000' on Wednesday, dropping down to around 6,500' to 7,000' by Thursday morning. Snow may cause some issues on roads and highways Wednesday night through Friday morning west of the continental divide. Snow levels may fall to valley floors on Wednesday night over western and northern New Mexico before climbing back up to around 6,500' to 7,000' on Thursday.
Light rain and snow showers are forecast for the Sacramento mountains Wednesday into Thursday. Snow levels look to start out around 8,000' on Wednesday before lowering Wednesday night into Thursday to around 7,000'.
Some of the model forecasts hint at a slight chance for rain showers across the southeastern plains Wednesday night into Thursday. Low temps Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings look chilly with some northern mountain locations dipping below zero next Saturday and Sunday.
Long-range outlooks are calling for temperatures across the state to be near to slightly below normal with better chances for above normal precipitation.
December 29th, 2025.
Carlsbad, New Mexico.
December 30th, 2025.
Carlsbad, New Mexico.
(December 30, 2025.)
A narrow band of freezing fog stretched up and down the Pecos River Valley on the morning of December 30th, 2025, from north of Roswell, south to Artesia and Carlsbad, and then southeast of Carlsbad.
Snow cover is depicted by the narrow bands (white and green colors) from the Guadalupes east to south of Artesa, to Carlsbad, and then southeastward to the Hobbs, Jal, Midland/Odessa areas.
There Are None So Blind As Those Who "Will - Not" To See...107.
Comments
Post a Comment
Your comments, questions, and feedback on this post/web page are welcome.