First responders had to rescue drivers stranded by snow overnight Friday and far into the morning, after a potentially historic winter storm dumped more than 3 feet of snow on New Mexico and Colorado, with more on the way.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency on Thursday, deploying the National Guard to assist with severe weather.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham declared two statewide emergencies, freeing up $1.5 million to assist state agencies in their recovery efforts.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office in New Mexico said they rescued several stranded drivers on state and municipal roadways Thursday evening and Friday early.
The National Weather Service has extended its Blizzard Warning for the northern region of New Mexico until 11 p.m. local time on Friday.
The storm has created difficult traffic conditions along Interstate 25 and Interstate 40 in New Mexico as we approach Saturday.
FOX Weather Exclusive Storm Tracker Brandon Copic reported that snow plows became trapped on I-25 in Trinidad, Colorado. Semi-truck drivers were forced to pull over to the side of the interstate while officials transported them to warming centers.
Much of I-25 in the northern section of the state remains closed, including the Raton Pass, which connects to Colorado. The interstate closure extends as far north as Pueblo. The Colorado Department of Transportation issued a strongly discouraging travel announcement, as well as Winter Storm Warnings for Interstate 70 east of Denver. Numerous state routes are closed in both states.
A similar system caused portions of I-70 in Colorado to be shut down on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service in Albuquerque reported that a semi-truck jackknifed on Thursday afternoon, leaving more than 100 automobiles stuck on state roadways.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, the storm will bring extreme snow to New Mexico’s mountains, unlike anything seen in November in years.
“By the time the storm ends, we could be talking about snow totals as high as 6 feet along the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Stephen McCloud said.
Craig Herrera, a meteorologist, said that Sunday was the ideal day to travel. Power New Mexico, New Mexico’s major electrical supplier, said the storm caused extensive power disruptions across the state on Thursday.
According to the company’s outage map, at least 43 thousand clients were affected by that afternoon. Some of the outages have been restored, but more than 8,000 people remain in the dark as of Friday morning.
The Denver metro region saw a respite in snowfall on Thursday, but conditions are predicted to worsen from Thursday through Saturday as the storm pushes back north. The most snow is predicted Friday night.