Back to back storm systems hit New Mexico during the last week of January. The first storm system was quite warm, and only brought snowfall to the highest terrain, however the second system was much colder and dropped snow levels to the valley floor. Snow-Cloud RGB and True Color RGB imagery captured some interesting features after the clouds cleared following the event.
During the second storm, a back door cold front dropped into the eastern plains of New Mexico and a band of moderate snow set up just behind the front. As the front surged out ahead of the front after sunset, the band of snow was orphaned near the I-40 corridor across the eastern plains.
Perhaps more interestingly, while the band of snow was occurring across the plains, isolated snow showers were developing across western New Mexico. These showers were moving very quickly to the southeast. Though they did not look strong on radar, the satellite imagery suggests there were some small accumulations with these showers. On both the Snow-Cloud and True Color RGB imagery, these showers left “snow streaks” – or linear bands of snow – across the west. One particular streak extends from near the Four Corners to near I-40! Several other snow streaks are noted across the west central and southwest mountains, but are not quite as obvious due to other higher elevation snow on the ground.
Snow-Cloud RGB (left) and True Color RGB (right) Imagery taken at 1741Z on January 30, 2013.
Fantastic post!