Meteorologists in Albuquerque, New Mexico, warned residents in the middle Rio Grande Valley and the Albuquerque metropolitan area that freezing fog could make driving hazardous on Friday morning.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Albuquerque issued a freezing fog advisory in the early hours of Friday morning. The advisory is expected to expire at 9 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. The freezing fog comes as an early season winter storm plagues the state, burying some communities in as much as 36 inches of snow, with more still to come before the storm moves out of the region on Friday night.
Further to the west, dense fog associated with the storm is freezing in some areas, causing road hazards.
“Visibility between one-quarter and one-half mile in freezing fog,” the warning said. “Low visibility could make driving conditions hazardous. Roads may be slick due to a thin layer of ice from the freezing fog.”
The warning advised motorists to slow down when driving, use their headlights, and “leave plenty of distance ahead of you.”
NWS Weather Prediction Center (WPC) meteorologist Marc Chenard told Newsweek that the winter storm is responsible for the fog.
“Fog is going to typically develop when you have an abundance of moisture near the ground,” he said.
Dry air in the mid-upper level is why the region isn’t seeing snow like areas further east.
“But there’s enough moisture near the surface to get fog,” Chenard said.
A stock image of snow-covered pine trees is seen in Santa Fe, New Mexico. An early season winter storm buried part of the state in snow and caused freezing fog in the Albuquerque metropolitan area.
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In addition to the freezing fog advisory, NWS meteorologists at the Albuquerque office 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 up to 14 inches in higher elevation areas is also forecast.
“Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” the warning said. “Some roads may be closed. Major travel delays are possible. Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility.”
Traffic has already been severely impacted, with bumper-to-bumper, stand-still conditions on Interstate 40 westbound, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, from the NWS Albuquerque office, which referenced stranded motorists and advised people to avoid the road.
In addition to causing hazardous travel, the heavy snow also could cause power outages.
“The weight of wet snow on trees will result in downed branches that can fall on power lines,” the warning said. “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 being reported in Santa Fe County.
