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LAS CRUCES - Mary Grudewicz was among the growing numbers of Las Crucens who reached Wednesday for their winter weather outerwear.
Heavy coats and jackets, gloves, mittens, scarfs and muffs are going to be a necessity today and standard issue through at least Saturday as the strongest winter storm so far this season passes through Las Cruces and southern New Mexico. "Winds" will be the key word in describing today's weather in Las Cruces, and "blizzard" will be the byword in Silver City.
A high wind warning, with the potential for gusts to reach 65 mph, has been issued today for Las Cruces by the National Weather Service, in Santa Teresa.
"God, I hate these winter wind storms," sighed Val Salazar, a Las Cruces secretary. "What makes it worse is that I chose this week to take vacation. It's been so nice in November and this month, and I thought this week would be pretty much the same way. But those hard, cold winds; they make it hard for me to breath and make me tired and cranky. I didn't expect to spend a part of my vacation inside all day."
If that's not enough, there's also a slight chance - 20 percent - for rain or a rain-and-snow mix today in Las Cruces and
But it could get really interesting in Silver City today as the weather service has issued a blizzard warning.
"The blizzard warning they are issuing is actually pretty rare for the area," said Gilbert Helton, Grant County emergency manager.
In Silver City, the forecast calls for a 90-percent chance of snow, with accumulations of four to eight inches, and wind gusts as high as 70 mph. Helton spent part of Wednesday preparing Silver City and Grant County departments for the storm.
"A blizzard warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibility are likely," said a portion of the weather service's blizzard warning. "This will lead to whiteout conditions, making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel. If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you. If you get stranded, stay with your vehicle."
Peak gusts reached 32 mph Wednesday in Silver City and skies were overcast. The high temperature there reached 50 degrees.
Grant County Sheriff Raul Villanueva said extra patrols in four-wheel drive vehicles will be used.
"We're hoping to have six patrols, right now we are running three," Villanueva said late Wednesday. "But starting (Wednesday) evening we'll bring on three more so we can be out there and help out if needed. We are encouraging people to stay home if they don't have be out. We're hoping it doesn't hit as hard as they are predicting but we have to be prepared if it does."
Silver City Town Manager Alex Brown said the town's emergency departments were aware of the bad weather brewing and were ready.
"About two years ago we had eight or nine inches of snow in one night and everything went fine," Brown said.
Silver City Road Department employees were notified they'll be on call, as were meter readers and others, in case there are any problems with frozen or broken pipes.
At Las Cruces International Airport - where the weather service has instrumentation to record conditions, winds from the southwest gradually picked up speed and the peak gust reached 29 mph early Wednesday afternoon. Today, the high-wind warning officially goes into effect at 10 a.m. and continues through 8 p.m.
Winds also noticeably increased Wednesday at White Sands Missile Range.
"From about 8 a.m. we could feel an increased presence of the wind," said Cammy Montoya, WSMR spokeswoman.
Gusts today at San Augustin Pass, where U.S. Highway 70 crosses through the Organ Mountains, could reach 90 mph or more. WSMR meteorologists said those strong gusts could possibly become dangerous for motorists, particularly those driving high-profile vehicles.
WSMR isn't ruling out the chance of snow, either.
Any measurable precipitation would be the first since late October.
"There is a chance of isolated rain showers and a dusting of snow in the lowlands," said Joe Rogash, a National Weather Service meteorologist, in Santa Teresa. "There's a good chance, but it wouldn't surprise me if most of that (precipitation) was in the mountains. At this point, we could get probably less than a tenth of an inch of rain across the lowlands."
Precipitation isn't expected to last past Thursday, but blustery conditions are expected to continue into the New Year's weekend. High temperatures Thursday to Friday are expected to drop about 15 degrees, with a daytime high on Friday near 40. It's supposed to get downright cold Friday and Saturday nights, with anticipated lows in the mid teens.
Silver City Sun-News bureau chief Christine Steele contributed to this story.
Steve Ramirez can be reached at (575) 541-5452.
The forecast
•Today: A 20-percent chance of showers, otherwise mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. A high-wind warning from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., with sustained west-to-southwest winds from 28 mph to 31 mph. Gusts could reach as high as 65 mph. A slight chance of rain and snow tonight, with a low around 28.
•Friday: A slight chance of rain and snow before 11 a.m. Partly sunny and blustery, with a high near 43. Winds should be from the west-northwest between 11 and 17 mph, with gusts to 24 mph. Friday night: cold, with a low around 17.
•New Year's Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 46. East-northeast wind between 6 and 9 mph. Partly cloudy Saturday night, with a low around 17.
•Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 51 and an overnight low around 23.
Source: National Weather Service
