SANTA FE, N.M. — A series of slow-moving winter storms that wreaked havoc in Southern California and left 3 feet (91 centimeters) of snow in northern Arizona reached New Mexico on Saturday, closing a stretch of U.S. highway south of the Colorado line and in some mountain areas there were as many as 30 centimeters of snow possible.
A winter storm warning remained in effect until 5 a.m. Sunday for parts of north-central and northeastern New Mexico. That included the Sante Fe area, where up to 14 inches (36 cm) of snow was possible in the mountains to the east and up to half a foot (15 cm) in the higher elevations to the west, forecasters said.
National Park officials closed Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos, New Mexico on Saturday afternoon “due to worsening weather.” The city of Albuquerque closed most city parks, golf courses and recreational areas.
Most highways and highways remained open, but a 40-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 64 south of the Colorado line was closed due to near-blizzard snow conditions, the New Mexico Department of Transporation said.
“Winter weather travel impacts will be widespread today and tonight, then linger over east-central and southeastern areas on Sunday,” the National Weather Service in Albuquerque said Saturday afternoon. It said travel would be difficult to impossible along some stretches of I-25 from Saturday evening through Sunday and likely affected along the I-40 corridor from Albuquerque east to the Texas line.
The storm system slowly moved out of California early Wednesday after days of wind, record rain and heavy snow that caused power outages, street flooding and hundreds of devastating mudslides around Los Angeles. Over three days it dumped 3 feet (91 cm) of snow in Flagstaff, Arizona, and closed long stretches of highway before moving east on Friday.