Snow In The Albuquerque Area (Socorro, Truth or Consequences: neighborhood, public schools, college)
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Yes it snows in Albuquerque. Usually only a few times in winter, and even fewer will it "stick" and actually acumulate. Seems like at least once each winter we get a really good storm that leaves several inches of snow - but it's usually gone pretty quick. Albuquerque is higher than Denver, CO - so we're not at all like the low elevation Mohave or Sonoran deserts of S. Calf. or Arizona.
ABQ is officially at 5,000 feet, with some higher spots (I'm at 5,600 feet, houses up the street are higher). So we aren't quite as high as Denver - isn't Denver at 6, 000 feet? I'm in the foothills and what snow I get usually melts by lunchtime. My snow shovel is a wisk broom and dustpan But I've only been here 3 winters, which could be milder than usual winters.
Double Eagle Airport on the West Mesa near the volcanoes is at 5837 feet and
my Westside home can't be much more than 200 feet lower. The foothills easily
beat that so the "official" altitude probably only applies to the downtown area.
I never knew that! Thanks! I always thought it was 6,000, I guess from all the advertising.
I got the 5,000 for ABQ from a city limits sign on one of the main drags, near the river. Actually, I think it had 5,006 or something.
Back on topic....I'm curious. I used to have family living here, from probably late 60s to mid 90s when they moved to AL. I remember them talking about snow and ice, as does my mom (they're deceased now). Yet, my 3 winters so far have been mild. Was what they reported the norm - more snow and ice - are we having a spate of mild winters? Or have the last few winters been more the norm? They weren't in the mountains - they lived off of Menaul/San Mateo.
Downtown Albuquerque is slightly lower than downtown Denver in elevation, but I'm not sure which city would be considered higher if you averaged the elevation within the city boundaries of each place. I'm not sure how far west the city limits of Denver extend, but the highest houses within the city limit of Albuquerque are a little above 6300 feet.
Menaul and San Mateo is around 5200 feet. The airport (one of the places with a long period of snowfall records) is about 5300 feet. Here are the seasonal snowfall averages for 10-year periods for the airport beginning in 1940...I hope these numbers don't get jumbled:
1940-49 7.8
1950-59 10.6
1960-69 7.9
1970-79 13.5
1980-89 12.2
1990-99 9.0
2000-08 6.4 (nine years as the 2009-10 snowfall season is the present).
Interesting that the recent average of 6.4 is so low, in spite of the fact the 2006-07 season (with 27.9 inches) was the 2nd snowiest on record. Yukon...it looks like your family was here during the relatively snowy 1970s and 1980s.
If you want to look at a year-by-year comparison, check out the following link. As you can see, variability is a "given" in this region of the country.
Most of these snow events occur at night. If the roads aren't too bad, schools usually will have a 2 hour delay before opening, but heavier snows can close the schools for a day. Those numbers that show an average of less than 10 inches per year are pretty good for elevations below 5300 or 5400 feet. As you climb higher, snowfall is a bit more, but still just not much of an issue. Highest annual averages in the city are around 25 inches, and that's only above 6000 feet, up against the mountains. It's a bit different for commuters who live east of the Albuquerque...along the east side of the Sandia and Manzano Mountains. Annual snowfall averages anywhere from 40-65 inches a year, depending (mainly) on the elevations. That can make the commute into Albuquerque a bit tricky through Tijeras Canyon along I-40.
I live on the Westside and it seems that it is weekly that the news says we are going to get snow, and I still dont see any, where is all this snow we are supposed to get? Anyways, here on the Westside we dont see much snow, its not much of an issue really, I wish we would see a good snowfall for once, instead of a dusting here and there.
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But I've only been here 3 winters, which could be milder than usual winters.
do schools and colleges close when it snows there?
