Several feet of snow was expected to fall in parts of New Mexico and Colorado over the next three days in what meteorologists said could be the worst blizzard to hit the region in decades, as the authorities warned of dangerous road conditions and power outages.
A winter storm warning was active for more than ” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>2.5 million people across the two states early Thursday as snow began accumulating. The alert warned residents to delay travel plans as it would soon become “difficult or impossible” to move around, according to the National Weather Service.
The snow had already caused road closures and could stall snowplows’ cleanup operations, New Mexico authorities said. Snow could also affect major highways including Interstate 40, which runs through Albuquerque, and Interstate 25, which links New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, forecasters said.
Heavy snow was expected in much of central, eastern and northern New Mexico, the New Mexico Department of Transportation said on Wednesday, warning that a persistent layer of snow could remain on roads even as crews worked to remove it.
More than 65,000 customers in New Mexico were without electricity early Thursday, according to the utility tracking site poweroutage.us.
Some areas of New Mexico were forecast to receive more than three feet of snow over the next three days, the National Weather Service said. Between 54 to 80 inches of snow were expected in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, northeast of Santa Fe.
The National Weather Service also warned that the storm was likely to cause extreme hardship or death for unprotected livestock.
The last time the region experienced a comparable storm system was in October 1997, said Kyle Mozley, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Pueblo, Colo. At least seven people died in that blizzard, the service said.
While snow is common there at this time of year, Mr. Mozley said, “to see snow of this magnitude isn’t.”
He said that this week’s slow-moving storm would drop snow until Saturday. Over the next 72 hours, one to three feet of snow was forecast near Trinidad, close to the New Mexico border, and about a foot in the Colorado Springs area.
“We recommend that people don’t travel for the next couple days if they don’t have to,” Mr. Mozley said. “Visibility will be low and roads will be slick.”
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