High winds expected with rain, snow in Santa Fe region

Mar. 13—Beware the Ides of March, New Mexico.

No, you probably don't have to worry about being assassinated like Julius Caesar was that fateful March 15 in 44 B.C., but you're going to want to drive more carefully and bundle up in a heavier toga.

The winter storm likely to hit much of the state, including Santa Fe, comes not with knives but with cutting winds. It's probably going to deliver a lot of rain, some snow and, at times, a mix of the two from Thursday afternoon into Tuesday, said Andy Church, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

This is the result of a cold front moving in from the east that will hover around Las Vegas, Nev., and "send waves of precipitation through at least early next week," Church said in an interview Wednesday.

Downtown Santa Fe had already been hit, temporarily, by high winds and some freezing rain Wednesday afternoon. More is to come, Church said.

Though Thursday may start out "perfectly fine" with clear skies, he said by mid-afternoon his agency "expects conditions to deteriorate thereafter."

Temperatures could drop to freezing by nightfall, with southeast winds hitting 25 mph to 35 mph and perhaps whipping up gusts closer to 50 mph.

He said Santa Fe will face an 80% chance of precipitation Thursday night. Whether it will be rain or snow may depend on where you live in the county.

"If you are close to the airport, further west, it will be more of a mix of rain and snow, but if you are living toward the Plaza or the upper canyon area, it will be snow," Church said.

Friday will be a day of rain and/or snow showers, with winds in the 20 mph to 30 mph range. The chance of precipitation is around 70% with "all snow after midnight," Church said.

Waking up Saturday, people will probably be looking at "pretty much the same thing," Church said. Sunday and Monday may not be precipitation-free either, he said.

Not much snow accumulation is expected; AccuWeather says "an inch or two" could fall Thursday and Friday, while the National Weather Service says a half-inch could accumulate Thursday night.

While it may not be pleasant, especially after the more mild weather Northern New Mexico has been enjoying for much of this month, Church said the wet stuff is "a wonderful thing" that will "put a severe dent" in the likelihood of wildfires.

The storm system should clear out Tuesday, he said, and temperatures may reach into the mid-50s by Wednesday, which he said is about average for this time of year.

Though spring is just around the corner, Church advised against assuming the worst of winter is over.

He said the end of the current El Niño weather pattern, which usually leads to a hotter, drier summer in the Southwest, followed by wetter-than-normal conditions in the fall and winter, could pay off with some "felicitous" rain showers in the early spring.