Northern New Mexico's fruit crops largely escaped damage from Friday's snow and low temperatures, but growers were planning to keep a close watch on their thermometers overnight Friday.

Ski areas, meanwhile, are expecting extra business this weekend from locals, some of whom got an early start on spring break when Santa Fe public schools shut down Friday due to the spring storm.

Alcalde, north of Española along the Rio Grande in the heart of orchard country, received 2 to 3 inches of snow by Friday morning — about half of Santa Fe's snowfall — with a predicted overnight low of 21 degrees.

That would have caused damage if it had occurred in late April when most fruit trees begin their flowering stage, said Del Jimenez, an agricultural specialist at the Alcalde Science Center.

"We have our trees going into bud stage right now," he said. "So we haven't seen any damage."

He explained that, "If we have a freeze then with the flowers coming out, then yes, we will have problems, but at the bud stage that we have right now, we're not showing any damage at all."

Otherwise, "this is a godsend for us because we need the moisture," Jimenez said. "It's going to depend ... on whether we have a good grass cover on our open lands, so the more moisture we get right now, the better off we're going to be."

One fruit grower, however, figured he lost about half of the blossoms on his 15 varieties of cherry trees in Chamita, just west of Ohkay Owingeh, formerly San Juan Pueblo.

"The peaches, nectarines and other stuff didn't get hit too bad," said Rick Romero.

He said the cherries were damaged even though they had not yet begun to flower. He said he discovered the damage by cutting buds open to inspect their interiors.

"Tonight's going to be the deciding night," he said Friday. "Yesterday, I wasn't worried too much about the crop because we had a lot of moisture."

Romero said he expects to stay up into the wee hours this evening to see whether he needs to turn on his wind machines and sprinkler systems to protect his trees' delicate buds from the inclement weather. If temperatures fall below 27 and there is little moisture, the buds will be in danger of freezing, he said.

Rio Arriba County Extension Agent Tony Valdez in Abiquiú and Santa Fe County Extension Agent Pat Torres agreed that the cold weather's effect was negligible on apples and other hardy fruit trees. They said it might have affected early-blossoming apricots, but they would have to wait a few more days to find out.

Ski areas in Northern New Mexico reaped the benefits of the late-season storm.

Adriana Blake, marketing director at Taos Ski Area, said the mountain received 15 inches of new snow, though temperatures remained frigid Friday. That meant the powder was merely covering rock hard moguls in many spots, she said.

"It's all of, like, nine degrees today," Blake said Friday. "I think when it warms up, it's gonna be awesome. (Saturday) will be the day to be here."

The hordes of spring breakers are, for the most part, gone, she said, and the ski area expects mainly locals to descend and enjoy the fresh snow. The mountain, which closes April 5, has a more than 70-inch base.

Candy DeJoia, group sales skier services manager at Ski Santa Fe, said the mountain above Santa Fe received about 10 inches of heavy, wet snow from the storm. The temperature on the ski runs Friday afternoon was 8 degrees and base was 52 inches, she said.

"This will make us go out with a smile," DeJoia said.

Ski Santa Fe also plans to close April 5.

Staff writer Jason Auslander contributed to this report. Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.