New Mexico Central

Well, Here We Go Again

by John Weckerle

After yesterday’s beautiful weather, your editor awoke with a song in his heart and not too many clouds in his sky.  Unfortunately, it looks as if the bright, sunshiny day may be a short-lived phenomenon.  According to our friends at the National Weather Service, another system is moving into the area, complete with the potential for more of the good old white stuff.  We’ll be under a winter storm watch today and will likely be seeing showers and thunderstorms this afternoon, with snow tonight.  Depending on who is to be believed, we have 70-80% chance of rain/snow today and tonight, and 50-70% chance tomorrow.  Fortunately, it looks as if temperatures will be remaining at or slightly below freezing tonight and tomorrow, and popping back up into the fifties on Tuesday, so we should not be socked in for long. Nonetheless, driving conditions later today – and especially tomorrow and Tuesday mornings – may be difficult, so let’s be careful out there!

Here’s the winter storm watch advisory:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
602 AM MDT SUN MAR 14 2010

...ANOTHER ROUND OF SIGNIFICANT SNOW FOR THE MOUNTAINS...ADJACENT
HIGHLANDS...AND PARTS OF NORTHWEST AND WEST-CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
SUNDAY INTO MONDAY...

.A POTENT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS AREA WILL
CONTINUE TO SWEEP INTO NORTHERN NEW MEXICO TODAY...BEFORE DROPPING
NEARLY DUE SOUTH BY TONIGHT. SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE
NORTHWEST CORNER OF NEW MEXICO TODAY...FAVORING HIGHER ELEVATIONS
AS TEMPERATURES WARM AND SNOW LEVELS RISE BY THE AFTERNOON. BY
SUNDAY NIGHT...MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL EXPAND SOUTHEASTWARD TO
INCLUDE THE SANDIA...MANZANO...CAPITAN...AND NORTHERN SACRAMENTO
MOUNTAINS. THE ADJACENT HIGHLANDS AND NEARBY AREAS WILL ALSO
RECEIVE A FEW INCHES OF SNOWFALL TONIGHT AND INTO MONDAY MORNING.
THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT INTO THE EAST CENTRAL AND
SOUTHEASTERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE BY LATE MONDAY AND INTO MONDAY
NIGHT BEFORE DIMINISHING.

NMZ521>524-526-528>533-539-540-141800-
/O.CON.KABQ.WS.A.0012.100315T0000Z-100316T0000Z/
SANDIA/MANZANO MOUNTAINS-ESTANCIA VALLEY-CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-
SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-
FAR NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-NORTHEAST HIGHLANDS-UNION COUNTY-
HARDING COUNTY-EASTERN SAN MIGUEL COUNTY-GUADALUPE COUNTY-
EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHWEST CHAVES COUNTY-
602 AM MDT SUN MAR 14 2010

...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH
MONDAY AFTERNOON...

A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH
MONDAY AFTERNOON.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE
  EXPECTED AT ELEVATIONS LOWER THAN 7500 FEET WHILE MODERATE TO
  HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS OF SEVERAL INCHES ARE EXPECTED ABOVE 7500 FEET.

* TIMING...RAIN SHOWERS AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW SHOWERS
  WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON...THEN PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE TO
  SNOW LATE THIS EVENING AS IT INCREASES IN COVERAGE AND
  INTENSITY. SNOW WILL MIX WITH RAIN IN LOWER ELEVATIONS AGAIN ON
  MONDAY AFTERNOON...AND BY MONDAY EVENING PRECIPITATION WILL
  BEGIN TAPERING OFF FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST.

* WINDS...OCCASIONALLY GUSTY WINDS FROM THE NORTHEAST WILL BE
  POSSIBLE TONIGHT. SUSTAINED SPEEDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WITH HIGHER
  GUSTS CAN BE EXPECTED. LOCALIZED AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW WILL BE
  POSSIBLE.

* SNOW LEVELS...TEMPERATURES WILL BE COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW AT MOST
  LOCATIONS SUNDAY NIGHT...BUT SNOW LEVELS WILL RANGE BETWEEN 6500
  AND 7500 FEET MONDAY AFTERNOON.

* LOCAL IMPACTS...SNOW IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT TRAVEL DUE TO SNOW
  PACKED ROADWAYS AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE
FOR A HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER EVENT IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AT WEATHER.GOV/ABQ...LISTEN TO
NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET.

Sunday, March 14th, 2010, by John Weckerle and is filed under "Weather ". You can leave a response here. Pinging is currently not allowed.