Plastered in New Mexico

 

(The view on the side of our house and towards our 4th garage)

We’ve been getting snow flurries over the past few days but it’s been too warm for the snow to stick. Last night it started snowing heavily and temps dropped back down into the 20’s, so we woke up to about 6” of heavy, wet snow on the ground. I actually like snow and can’t imagine living anywhere with a snowless winter. But I can live without thick, heavy, slick-ice, wet snow that plasters everything it touches.

 (Project 365 photo) 

The heavy snow coating the chicken coop’s hawk/owl netting had to be knocked off several times to keep it from weighing down the chicken wire fence and ripping the netting.

Many of you have asked if snow is typical for New Mexico. It really depends upon where you live in the Land of Enchantment. Anywhere above 7,000 ft elevation, which is where we are, is guaranteed to receive regular snowfall every winter. We can expect to have snowfalls between October and all the way into early June.

(Notice the pushpin? That’s the area we call home. We are in the Central Mountains of the Sandia and Manzano Mountain chain, about 20 minutes east of Albuquerque and an hour south of Santa Fe.)

Anywhere above 4,000 ft, which includes most of our high desert state, will receive at least a few snowfalls a year, usually only 1-6” at a time and usually melting by the next day.

The southern part of New Mexico receives much less snow and sometimes even none at all, while the northern part of our state depends upon substantial snow to fill the aquifers and to bring tourists and locals to their beautiful ski areas.

 Our mountains don’t have many deciduous tree species. The most common is the Gambel Oak, which is a rather scruffy shrub-like tree. The trees that grow up here are tough survivors, like the tall Ponderosa Pine, Pinon Pine, and the Juniper, which is the most common and is basically just an overgrown shrub that can reach heights of 20-30 feet. The heavy snow doesn’t much affect them or break their branches.

    

The plastered snow looks pretty, as long as the weather doesn’t freeze and turn the snow into a shell.

 (Project 365 photo)

The crazy thing that most people, me included, are often surprised by, are the various micro-climates in our mountains and in much of New Mexico.

Where in one area it can be snowing, just a few miles away it can be sunny and dry.

For instance, on Sunday we were in Edgewood, about 15 minutes east of our house, flying from the local airport. There was no snow, except in the shadiest gulleys.

The very next day, on Monday, I went trail riding in the snow just 15 minutes south of our house, and about 600 feet higher in elevation than here, and there was still 6-10” of snow on the ground.

(The front of our house and our peach tree)

And at our house, most of the snow was melted and creating boot sucking mud, except for in the shade of trees, where several inches of snow could still be found.

And then if we just drive 20 minutes west, through the canyon, and down into Albuquerque, the temps go up by 10-20 degrees and it’s warm enough to shed heavy coats, without a drop of snow to be seen anywhere.

New Mexico is a state where you can ski, play golf, go on a trail ride, hike and ride a bike all on the same day. It’s truly a Land of Enchantment.

(The view from our living room) 

(Project 365 photo) 

 

So, who is planning on making a trek to New Mexico this year?

  (Project 365 photo)

Be sure to plan a visit to the Laughing Orca Ranch!