Meteorologists in Albuquerque, New Mexico, warned residents in the mid-Rio Grande Valley and the Albuquerque metro area that freezing fog could make driving hazardous Friday morning.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Albuquerque issued a freezing fog advisory early Friday morning. The advisory is scheduled to expire at 9 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. The freezing fog comes as an early-season winter storm batters the state, burying some communities under up to 36 inches of snow, with more to come before the storm leaves the region Friday evening.
Further west, dense fog associated with the storm freezes in some areas, causing road hazards.
“Visibility between a quarter and a half mile in freezing fog,” the warning states. “Low visibility could make driving conditions hazardous. Roads may be slippery due to a thin layer of ice from freezing fog.”
The warning advised motorists to slow down when driving, use their headlights and “leave a large distance ahead”.
Marc Chenard, meteorologist at the NWS Weather Prediction Center (WPC), said: News week that the winter storm is responsible for the fog.
“Fog typically develops when there is an abundance of moisture near the ground,” he said.
Dry air in the mid-upper levels is why the region doesn’t see snow like areas further east.
“But there is enough moisture near the surface to create fog,” Chenard said.
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In addition to the freezing fog advisory, NWS meteorologists in the Albuquerque office have issued a winter storm warning and a blizzard warning for northeastern New Mexico.
Blizzard conditions are expected to persist until 5 p.m. local time, according to the warning. Additional snowfall of up to 14 inches in higher elevation areas is also expected.
“Travel may be very difficult or impossible,” the warning said. “Some roads may be closed. Significant travel delays are possible. Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility.”
Traffic has already been severely affected, with bumper-to-bumper conditions on westbound Interstate 40, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, from the NWS office in Albuquerque, which referenced to stranded motorists and advised people to avoid the road. .
In addition to making travel dangerous, heavy snowfall could also cause power outages.
“The weight of the wet snow on the trees will cause falling branches which could fall onto power lines,” the warning states. “Expect scattered power outages and damage to vulnerable structures.”
As of Friday morning, nearly 11,000 people in New Mexico were without power, according to poweroutage.us, with the most widespread outages reported in Santa Fe County.
