Though nearly a foot of snow fell in the Santa Fe area Monday night and Tuesday morning, government closures kept many drivers off the streets, and accidents were few and minor, police said.

City officers handled 13 accidents between about 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., including one at St. Francis and Alamo drives early Tuesday morning that diverted traffic for about an hour and a half, said Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Benjie Montaño. No serious injuries were reported in any of the accidents, he said.

A car hit a power-line pole at Alamo and St. Francis drives just after 7 a.m. and knocked it over, Montaño said. However, the line didn't break, and traffic was back to normal by 8:30 a.m., he said.

A spokeswoman for Public Service Company of New Mexico said the utility had heard of no power outages in the city.

Montaño said the closure of government offices, as well as the fact schools were not in session Tuesday, contributed to relatively few drivers on the road and fewer accidents.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said snow-related accidents were not a big problem for his agency. Deputies had been called to 17 snow-related accidents, though nine of those were from people who had slid off the road and were stuck, he said. Two of the remaining eight collisions were rollovers — one in Edgewood and one on N.M. 41 in Galisteo. Neither caused major injuries, Solano said.

For state police, however, Tuesday was a busy morning, said spokesman Peter Olson.

The agency had received numerous reports of cars sliding off the road in the Santa Fe area and the northern part of the state, he said, but no major accidents or injuries had been reported.

Interstate 25 was closed south of Las Vegas, N.M., around noon for about an hour so sand trucks could make the treacherous road safer, Olson said. A five-car pileup occurred between 3 and 4 p.m. near Glorieta on Interstate 25, though, again, no serious injuries were reported, he said.

The only road closure in the state was N.M. 17 from Chama to the Colorado state line, Olson said.

According to online National Weather Service totals, the Santa Fe area received between about 7 and 9 inches. However, the city received heavy snow until about 10 a.m., and many areas in the downtown area looked as if they had received about a foot.

Most state government offices in Santa Fe did not open Tuesday because of the snow, said Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for Gov. Bill Richardson. City and county offices, as well as state District Court, also were closed.

While all state offices will be closed Christmas Day, Gallegos said that today and Friday are supposed to be regular working days.

Around the region, Tierra Amarilla received 20 inches as of Tuesday morning, the most in the state so far out of this storm, according to the National Weather Service Web site. Chama reported 13 inches, while Española received between about 2 and 2 1/2 inches, the Web site said.

Ski Santa Fe reported 19 inches overnight, while Pajarito Mountain in Los Alamos said it received 14 inches. Taos Ski Valley reported 12 inches in the last 24 hours.

The forecast for today calls for partly cloudy skies with isolated snow and temperatures in the 20s to lower 30s. It is expected to be windy as well, with gusts in the 20- to 40-mph range. While some snow could fall in the evening, the National Weather Service says snow showers are more likely after midnight.

The likelihood of a white Christmas is also pretty good, according to the National Weather Service. Expect snow in the morning and rain and snow showers throughout the day with highs a little warmer in the mid-30s to lower 40s. Snow is also in the forecast for Friday.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.

Road condition information can found at nmroads.com.
Weather information can be found at the National Weather Service Web site.
For more closings information click here.
Weather rules to keep you safe from the National Weather Service
City of Santa Fe information on snow and ice removal santafenm.gov


Click on the map to download a copy of the city's snow removal priority map.






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