Jan. 4—The polar vortex set to hammer much of the country with extreme winter weather this week is expected to spare Santa Fe from the snowfall — but not from the low temperatures or high winds.
Starting Tuesday evening and lasting through Friday, temperatures are expected to drop in central areas of New Mexico — including Santa Fe and Albuquerque — leading to temperatures that will barely surpass the freezing point. Daily highs of around 34 degrees and nightly lows of around 15 are in the forecast.
“We’d be lucky to even get above freezing on Wednesday,” said Todd Shoemake, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. “We’re going for a high of 31 degrees in Santa Fe on Wednesday. And then, going into Thursday, you might get above freezing, but just by a few degrees.”
As the low temperatures set in Wednesday morning, the city is expected to also face intense winds of 25 mph — increasing the morning chill. However, the winds are expected to die out later in the day, Shoemake said.
The wintry blast comes after the city saw what might have been some record-high temperatures in December and a largely dry season since an early November storm dumped a foot of snow on Santa Fe and blanketed most of the region.
There is little hope for heavy snow from the coming storm.
The winds and freezing temperatures are expected to make “a bigger impact” than any expected snowfall in the area, Shoemake said. “We’re starting to gain confidence that the snow is going to be pretty light.”
Santa Fe could see an inch or less of snow Tuesday night and “probably less than a half-inch” Wednesday, he added.
But even half an inch can lead to slick spots on the road, he noted, especially with the low temperatures creating high potential for snow to stick to roads.
“I guess the good news is that a lot of the precipitation should start Tuesday night, probably after the evening commute,” Shoemake said. “I think things will have let up by the next morning, but whatever did fall Tuesday night would still be on the ground, so folks will need to be on the lookout for that.”