Archive for December 16, 2010
Well, It’s About Time!
by John Weckerle
I-40 at Sedillo at 1 p.m. courtesy of NM-Roads.com.
It would be stating the obvious to observe that it’s snowing here at New Mexico Central headquarters and in many of the surrounding areas. As of about 1:15 this afternoon, we’ve probably accumulated about three to four inches, and snow is continuing to fall steadily. Weather reports are varied with respect to the amount of snow we’re likely to see on the ground (the NOAA National Weather Service web site is still predicting rain), and based on what we’ve seen thus far, we believe they will all end up We are glad that our trip to Albuquerque has been taken care of, and we are now in a position to settle in and watch the snow fall, at least until its time for Senior Meteorological Correspondent Wilson and I to go out and sample the weather again.
Review of the highway cameras and other information at NM-Roads.com shows a varied set of conditions throughout the region. Highway cameras at Santa Rosa and Vaughn show little evidence of snow, and there’s even some patchy sunshine in Vaughn. There is definitely snow on the ground in Clines Corners, although I-40 looks clear in the image (but that could be black ice, so take it with a grain, or a truckload, of salt). Moving further west, conditions become snowier, with some evidence of snow on the interstate at Sedillo Hill, Zamora Road, and NM-14. The New Mexico Department of Transportation describes conditions from Carnuel to Sedillo as “mostly wet and slushy with snow still falling,” and from Moriarty to Route 3 as “snowpacked and icy, with possible black ice.” We noted on our trip back from Albuquerque that Route 66/NM 333 was substantially snowier than I-40. We recommend that people be very careful driving, leave plenty of time to get where they’re going, and get there before temperatures drop and more snow piles up. Remember: the snow is falling on wet roads, and that means roads that look snowy may also be icy.