Nov. 6—Forecasters say a substantial winter storm that began to hit the Santa Fe region Wednesday afternoon could bring snowfall totals that could range from around a foot in Santa Fe to even 2 or 3 feet to the east.
Brian Guyer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said forecasters are predicting 12 to 18 inches of snow to be dumped in the northern and eastern portions of the city foothills over the duration of the storm. Snow was already starting to accumulate across Santa Fe Wednesday evening.
“It’s a major winter storm,” Guyer said.
“We have a foot in the forecast for downtown Santa Fe,” Guyer said around noon Wednesday. “For the ski basin, we’ve got, like, four feet [in the forecast].”
Eight to 14 inches are expected in the general Santa Fe area, while areas near Las Vegas and Raton along Interstate 25 could be looking at 2 to 3 feet of snow, he added.
As of around 9 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Fe Public Schools were planning on a two-hour delay Thursday “to allow extra time for buses to transport students safely,” the district announced Wednesday night.
“This means that bus schedules will run two hours later than usual,” the district said in an online post Wednesday. “Please ensure your student(s) are kept from being dropped off before the delayed start as staff will not be on campus.”
Full-day pre-K programs will be delayed by two hours while morning ones will be canceled, the district said, and afternoon ones will continue as scheduled. District officials said they would provide another update at 8 a.m. Thursday.
Pecos, Pojoaque Valley and Los Alamos schools are also on a two-hour delay, the districts announced Wednesday night, and some schools further north will also be delayed or close Thursday, according to the Taos News.
Taos Municipal Schools and Taos Academy were holding virtual learning days on Thursday, while Anansi Charter School and the University of New Mexico-Taos were planning on closing. Peñasco Independent Schools announced a 2-hour delay, the Taos News said, and Taos Charter School had canceled in-person classes.
As of Wednesday evening around 8:30 p.m., about 5,000 Public Service Company of New Mexico customers in the Santa Fe area were out of power, according to PNM’s outage map. They were largely concentrated in the Cerrillos and Airport Road corridors, in the area near Santa Fe High School, near and north of downtown and in the La Cienega area.
Outage restoration times varied, with times of late Wednesday night listed for the customers on the south side of town and 5 a.m. Thursday for some further north. The cause of some of the outages was under investigation, while others were believed to have been caused by downed trees, according to PNM. The utility also reported a handful of scattered outages in the Albuquerque area.
Temperatures are expected to be around freezing from Wednesday night to Friday. Wind gusts could make driving conditions poor amid the snowfall on Thursday. Meteorologists are warning about the potential for local road and school closures through Friday as well as possible power outages.
“It’s going to be below freezing for a couple of days,” Guyer said.
From 9 p.m. Wednesday through 9 p.m. Thursday, locals should expect moderate to heavy snow with blowing snow, according to a weather service briefing.
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