November 4 – The roofs were covered in white and the trees heavy with the weight of ice and frost as the first snowfall of the season fell in Santa Fe Monday morning.
A raw cold swept through the foothills.
The snow fell, cold and wet, prompting people to walk briskly under hoods.
“It just went from warm to winter,” said Ty Trujillo, who was selling jewelry at the gantry outside the Palace of the Governors. He’s seen worse: real snowstorms that turn the walkway across from the Plaza into a kind of wind tunnel.
The storm deposited a blanket of snow in certain areas, ushering in the winter season. But temperatures hovered around freezing or just above, causing much of the snow to melt.
Monday’s light snowfall could precede what meteorologists in the state predict as a more severe winter storm moving into the region Wednesday evening, one that could dump several inches on the city.
Still, the early season showers are not an indication of a cold, wet winter to come.
The overall outlook for Santa Fe this winter is “drier than normal” in a La Niña year, said Todd Shoemake, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. He expects temperatures to be average.
“It doesn’t mean that we won’t have cold spells and that there won’t be fronts that will drop us below normal for a short period of time,” he added.
For some locals, Monday’s snow struck abruptly; they remembered the sunny weather that had warmed the region for much of the fall.
“We had a longer summer, so now that we’re getting what we would normally see this time of year, it’s just a huge shift,” said Brian Guyer, another meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It seems really dramatic because we’ve had such a long summer.”
In the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in eastern and northern Santa Fe, about 1 to 3 inches of snow has accumulated, mostly on grass and elevated surfaces, Guyer said. The snow started around 4 a.m. and the heaviest snow fell between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Shoemake said 3.5 inches of snow was reported on Cerros Colorados in eastern Santa Fe, the highest total reported in the city.
The Sangre de Cristos and Jemez mountains have now risen 5 to 10 centimeters.
Christiana Hudson, spokesperson for Pajarito Mountain, said the Jemez Ski Area received a foot of snow.
For Tommy Long, the operations manager at Ski Santa Fe, it’s a good sign ahead of the ski area’s tentative opening date of Nov. 28, Thanksgiving.
“As far as early season storms go, this one is really encouraging,” he said.
A new lift will make its debut at Ski Santa Fe this winter, says Eric Thompson, the resort’s marketing director — a lift that will get skiers and boarders up the mountain about six minutes faster than the old Super Chief, which has been in service since then. 1988. The Chief, who provided a 10-minute ride up the mountain, has retired.
Thompson reported at least 6 inches of snowfall on the mountain Monday.
“When it starts to look more like winter outside, people get more into a winter sports mood,” he said. “Another big positive for us weather-wise is that our snowmaking can get going this week. The snowmaking will blow and lay a nice, heavy foundation for the season.”
Ski Santa Fe’s long-publicized Thanksgiving opening could happen soon if the weather continues to cooperate.
The outlook for more snow this week is optimistic.
“There could be a major winter storm hitting the area from Wednesday night through Thursday evening,” Guyer said. “People will definitely want to keep an eye on the weather forecast. It could be very big.”
He added that there is a “pretty good” chance of more than 6 inches of snow — possibly as much as 12 inches — in the Santa Fe area.
Tuesday, when Santa Fe voters head to the polls to cast their ballots in the closely watched presidential race and a number of other general election contests, it is expected to be sunny and much warmer — with highs in the forties.
Ryan Miller, Marialena Murphy and Cora Lieber rode the New Mexico Rail Runner Express to Santa Fe from Albuquerque on Monday and said they witnessed winter scenes outside the windows of the speeding train growing more intense as they got closer to the capital .
“It’s very surprising to us, especially since it was still 85 degrees in Albuquerque two weeks ago,” Miller said as the group walked through the Plaza.
For Miller, Monday’s storm represents how quickly the weather can change in the Land of Enchantment — how seasonal shifts happen with speed.
“It was a fun adventure,” Murphy said of the train ride that maneuvered the group through some scenic sections. “We will remember it forever.”
