3-Foot Snowfall Sparks Travel Warnings, Road Closures in New Mexico and Colorado
First responders were called in to rescue drivers stranded by snow overnight Friday, as a powerful winter storm dumped over three feet of snow on parts of New Mexico and Colorado, with more snow expected.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency on Thursday, deploying the National Guard to assist with the severe weather response. In New Mexico, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham declared two statewide emergencies, allocating $1.5 million to aid state agencies in recovery efforts.
In New Mexico’s Union County, the Sheriff’s Office reported multiple rescues of stranded drivers on Thursday night and Friday morning. The National Weather Service extended a Blizzard Warning for northern New Mexico until 11 p.m. on Friday.
The storm has created challenging travel conditions on major highways, including I-25 and I-40 in New Mexico, and led to closures along much of I-25’s northern stretch, including Raton Pass and extending up to Pueblo, Colorado. In Trinidad, Colorado, snow plows became stuck on I-25, and semi-truck drivers had to be taken to warming centers. I-70 east of Denver also faced closures and Winter Storm Warnings.
A similar storm system closed portions of I-70 earlier in the week. In Albuquerque, a jackknifed semi-truck on Thursday left over 100 vehicles stranded on state roads.
According to FOX Weather, snow totals could reach up to six feet along the eastern slopes of New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains, potentially setting a record for November snowfall. Power New Mexico reported widespread outages affecting over 43,000 customers across the state on Thursday, with approximately 8,000 still without power as of Friday morning.
The Denver metro area had a brief respite from snowfall on Thursday, but conditions are expected to worsen from Friday night into Saturday as the storm heads back north. Sunday is forecasted as the best travel day for those in the region.
