New Mexico may be in for a snowy first week of January

Most of Albuquerque missed out on a white Christmas.

But students hoping to play in the snow during winter break may still be in luck.

New Mexico is expected to face three storms over the next week, the National Weather Service said Monday, each one colder and with more potential for snow than the last.

Beginning Monday night and into Tuesday, a weak system likely bringing snow showers to areas above 9,000 feet will move through the southern half of New Mexico, National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Church told the Journal.

But that system, he said, is just a “teaser” of what’s to come.

The second storm is expected to hit western New Mexico Wednesday night and cross into much of the rest of the state throughout Thursday. That storm is expected to bring high temperatures in the upper 30 degree range, Church said, and possibly one to three inches of snow in Albuquerque.

Mountain areas in the northern part of the state, Church said, could see much more — potentially up to a foot of snow. He added the storm may also affect travel plans in north and northeast New Mexico, and advised against them.

“If you’ve got plans headed up into Colorado on (Interstate) 25, Thursday night would not be the night to do it,” Church said.

Less is known about the third storm, Church said, because it’s expected to hit New Mexico late this weekend and into early next week.

But it is expected to be colder than the Wednesday-Thursday storm.

As of right now, Church said the National Weather Service is predicting high temperatures in Albuquerque in the low to mid-30 degree range. In mountain areas above 8,000 feet, he said high temperatures could be in the high single digits to low teens.

Those temperatures, he said, would “likely trend down.”

Church said the third storm will likely bring snow throughout the state, but it’s too soon to tell how much.

All three systems are just the beginning of a January and a February expected to be full of winter storms, Church said, with a potential total of five predicted through the middle of this month.

“It’s looking great for skiers and snowboarders and our moisture and for the watersheds,” he said.