Winter weather came late to New Mexico this year. Although other parts of the state have seen flurries of snow already, Albuquerque had its first large storm Wednesday night.
Snow started to fall in the late afternoon Wednesday on the Sandia Mountains, swiftly picking up over night, leaving our desert landscape in a blanket of white.
The storm quickly moved away from our state, but not without stirring the community.
Around 7 a.m. Thursday Montaño Road was closed by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office after multiple crashes.
Several other roads were closed due to snow and ice. Interstate 40 was closed for nearly 2 hours near Clines Corners because of a commercial vehicle crash.
According to KOAT-TV, nearly 200 schools and government offices across New Mexico were delayed or closed after the winter storm moved through.
Xavier Ledesma is a freshman at the University of New Mexico. He said he loves snow, “It’s one of my favorite things to do. As a child too, I used to play around with my siblings. [We] would make snowmen, have snowball fights and everything.”
Santa Fe got about 1.5 inches of snow, Taos got over 3, and Albuquerque got between 2 and 3 inches, depending on the part of town.
In Albuquerque the snow quickly began to melt, allowing schools, businesses, and roads to reopen. Santa Fe and Taos are not far behind, with sun and modestly warmer temperatures expected in the coming days.
Florian Knowles contributed to this report.
