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LAS CRUCES - Those vistas of the Organ Mountains that so many Las Crucens like to brag about couldn't be seen Thursday.
It was a bad hair, bad view, bad wind, bad rain, bad snow day. It was a bad day, period.
A fierce winter storm pushed its way Thursday across New Mexico, bringing varying amounts of rain, snow and wind.
Boy, was it windy.
Ahead of a cold front that dropped daytime temperatures by 20 degrees in less than three hours early Thursday afternoon, a peak gust of 61 mph was recorded at Las Cruces International Airport, where the National Weather Service has equipment to monitor weather conditions. By 2 p.m., light rain began falling and that quickly changed to a rain-sleet-snow mix as temperatures dropped.
There were no major weather problems reported in Las Cruces, but that's not to say that nothing happened. About 1 p.m. areas of downtown Las Cruces experienced a power outage that lasted about five minutes. Officials with El Paso Electric Co. did not immediately return calls Thursday seeking an explanation of what
The winds also caused their share of private property damage.
"You should see what the wind did to my front fence," said Jud Wright, who lives near downtown Las Cruces. "The wind just blew my front fence down."
The outages were more frequent at White Sands Missile Range's main post. So much so that Cmdr. Brig. Gen. John Regan sent non-essential WSMR civilian employees home about 2:30 p.m. WSMR spokeswoman Monte Marlin said intermittent electrical outages began about 1:30 p.m., and Regan's dismissal notice to employees cited "unreliable electrical power" as a factor in sending employees home early.
"Fortunately for us, there weren't a lot of employees on the main post because of the holidays," Marlin said. "And, we were also fortunate that the outages didn't affect any of the missions out here."
Snow and blizzard-like conditions shut down numerous New Mexico highways in Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties, in southwestern New Mexico, by late Thursday morning. Travel along most roads was treacherous, and officials with the Silver City Police Department said the weather caused multiple traffic accidents.
"Everything is really, really slick so we are discouraging people from traveling," said Capt. Terry Thortonberry, of the Silver City Police Department.
Thortenberry added that at one point Thursday morning, four vehicle crashes were reported within a 15-minute period.
Grant County Sheriff Raul Villanueva also reported multiple traffic crashes, and vehicles stalled or stuck in the snow in rural areas of that county.
A central command post was activated in Silver City to coordinate emergency response agencies, snow plows and other heavy equipment that could be used to clear roads and to help motorists that became stuck in the snow.
"It came so fast and so much that some people panicked," Town Manager Alex Brown said.
Grant County Emergency Manager Gilbert Helton said snowplowing equipment had to be used, and county officials closely monitored weather conditions.
Late Thursday morning, four state highways were closed. But Bridget Spedalieri, spokeswoman for the New Mexico Department of Transportation, said all of those roads were able to reopen a few hours later, but were snow packed and icy.
"We had reports that visibility was severely reduced over a lot of roads," Spedalieri said. "There was both blowing dust and blowing snow in some areas. Not at the same time, of course, but it was definitely bad enough to affect road conditions."
Silver City Sun-News Reporter Terrance Vestal contributed to this report.
Steve Ramirez can be reached at (575) 541-5452.
Weather extremes
•Peak wind gusts Thursday in Las Cruces reached 61 mph at Las Cruces International Airport.
•Within the city limits, proper, a 40-mph gust was recorded at Hermosa Heights Elementary School.
•In less than three hours Thursday afternoon, temperatures in Las Cruces dropped from the mid-50s to the mid-30s.
•A gust of 75 mph - considered a Stage One hurricane-force wind - was reported in Truth or Consequences.
•Blizzard conditions forced numerous road and business closures in Silver City.
•White Sands Missile Range was closed at 2:30 p.m. Thursday because of intermittent electrical outages apparently caused by the weather.
•A combination of rain and snow began falling in Las Cruces shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday.
Today's forecast
•According to the National Weather Service, the Silver City area is expected to see a 20-percent chance of snow. It's expected to be partly sunny, with a high near 28 with wind chill values as low as 5 degrees below zero.
•Partly sunny, with a high near 40 is the forecast for Las Cruces. It will be breezy, with a northwest wind between 18 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
•The best word to describe tonight's overnight low is "cold." With gradual clearing in effect, it's supposed to get down to 16 in Las Cruces, with a potential wind-chill temperature of 9. The low in Silver City is anticipated to get down to 9, and the wind chill could drop to as low as minus-2 degrees.
•Saturday is expected to be mostly sunny, with a high in Las Cruces of 44, and near 27 in Silver City.
