◆ Meteorologists warn of weather changes as Ski Santa Fe preps for opening.
While warm spell expected to continue through holiday, come this weekend, wintry weather will be settling in
By Robert Nott rnott@sfnewmexican.com
If you haven’t brought your plants indoors for the winter or placed extra blankets in the doghouse, this is the time to do it before temperatures drop later this week, forecasters say.
New Mexico might continue to enjoy a warm spell Wednesday and Thursday, but it’s likely to get colder and possibly snowy come Friday night and Saturday.
“There are some chances for some winter weather impacts ramping up slowly during the day and into Friday night and Saturday, including some slick roads,” said meteorologist Clay Anderson of the National Weather Service in Albuquerque during a news briefing Monday.
Expect “colder temperatures Saturday in the 30s” in Santa Fe and across Northern New Mexico, he said.
In an interview after the briefing, Anderson said the Santa Fe area could get a “mix of rain and snow during the daylight hours [Friday], but that changes Friday night. Chances are then 40%, but it would be a changeover to snow as temperatures drop.”
Temperatures could drop into the low 30s Saturday with a 30% chance of precipitation — which means snow, he added.
As for Sunday, right now it looks clear and cold, he said.
Temperatures will hover in the 40s and 50s Tuesday through Thursday, with Wednesday being “just a beautiful day” and Thanksgiving Day seasonably cool without being too cold, he said.
Todd Shoemake, another meteorologist with the weather service, said a series of storms moving through the region in the past few days brought rain, snow and sometimes a mix of the two to many communities in Northern New Mexico, including Raton, which was still experiencing windy, wintry conditions Monday.
The “parade of storms” brought much-needed moisture to many parts of the state, he said.
Anderson said Ski Santa Fe, scheduled to open for the season Thanksgiving Day, got at least 4 inches of fresh snow.
Eric Thompson, the marketing director for Ski Santa Fe, said the ski basin measured 5 inches of new snow over the weekend and hopes to see more coming in the days ahead.
“I’m watching the forecast,” he said. “It looks optimistic. I don’t like to count snow before it hits the ground.”
He said it was about 32 degrees at the basin around 3 p.m. Monday, and that temperatures have been “favorable for snowmaking efforts.”
The resort was reporting a 20-inch base of snow.
Shoemake and Anderson cautioned the forecast could change but noted any incoming storm system in the region would be typical for late November.
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2023-11-21T08:00:00.0000000Z
2023-11-21T08:00:00.0000000Z
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