Gallup hit by a foot of snow

Alberta Bates walks on the street in downtown Gallup on Monday morning to avoid the snow on the sidewalk, which had not been shoveled. Gallup received nearly a foot of snow on Sunday and Monday morning. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Gaye Brown de Alvarez
Staff writer

GALLUP — It snowed all day Sunday. And more is coming.

The Gallup area saw up to 12 inches of snow Sunday as winter weather pushed its way across New Mexico with the heaviest snowfalls forecast for the northern mountains and near Interstate 40 along the Continental Divide.

Another 3 to 4 inches fell overnight, with up to a foot piling up in some areas. But I-40 remained open most of the day as the highway department was ready for the storm. Snow plows were also out clearing the snow routes in Gallup.

The National Weather Service says a winter storm warning was in effect for the northwest quarter of the state and winter weather advisories were in effect for central and southwestern New Mexico until 5 a.m. Monday.

The northern and Jemez mountains and the Continental Divide saw about a foot of snow, with 5 to 10 inches additional snowfall near the Colorado border.

The weather service says travel in those areas will be dangerous and motorists should only venture out in an emergency.

Snow also fell in Arizona’s high country as the winter storm moved through the state.

The white stuff fell at elevations higher than 6,000 feet, and The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for parts of the state, warning that snow accumulations could make driving difficult.

Areas that should see significant snow include the Mogollon Rim, the White Mountains in eastern Arizona, and higher elevations in the Tucson area. Gallup has seen more snow than in most recent winters, and the moisture is needed.

The winter storm also brought rain to the Phoenix metro area and Gila County.

The Phoenix metropolitan area had its 14th wettest year on record in 2008 with the most rainfall since 1998.

The National Weather Service said the Phoenix area had an official precipitation total of 9.58 inches last year — 25 percent more than the average of 7.66 inches.

Most of the rain could be credited to a soaking monsoon season.

From mid-June through the end of September, the Phoenix area’s official gauge took in 5.7 inches. That made last summer the wettest since 1984 and the 10th-wettest overall.

Arizona has been in a drought since the mid-1990s with nine of the last 13 years seeing below-average rainfall.
The total for 2008 wasn’t much lower than the combined amount for the previous two years (10.5 inches).

But last year started off wet, with a January that had almost twice as much rain as usual. That gave 2008 a cushion to work with in a late winter/early spring period that was very dry.

Then in late May, a shockingly strong and unseasonable storm hit Arizona. By mid-July, the monsoon was in full swing. In an average monsoon, the rainfall total is 2.77 inches. That mark was passed in early August.

In other weather facts, the average temperature last year in the Phoenix metro area was 75.4 degrees, which was 1.2 degrees above normal and tied with 1992 for the 11th-warmest in more than 110 years of record-keeping.

But this was a cool-down from 2007, when the yearly mean was 76.4 degrees — the Phoenix area’s second-hottest year.

Overnight low temperatures averaged out to 63.8 degrees, ninth-warmest overall, while 2008’s average daytime high was 86.9 degrees, the 17th-warmest on record.

Weather experts say the temperatures in the Phoenix metro area are rising due to the effect known as the urban heat island.

During the day, heat is trapped in the region’s asphalt, concrete and stucco.