3 Days of Wild Weather in and Near Santa Fe, NM - May 3-5, 2025
by John Farley
Over the 3-day period from May 3 through May 5, A stubborn closed upper low hung over the Southwest states. New Mexico was on the east side of the system, where there was strong forcing, wind shear, and abundant moisture funnelled in from both the Gulf and the Pacific. Severe weather, wintry weather, and exceptionally heavy rain and snow totals for May were the result. In and around Santa Fe over this 3-day period I was able to observe SVR-warned thunderstorms, thundersnow (on 2 and arguably 3 consecutie days), multiple hailstorms, and the rare combination of hail and snow at the same time. And earlier the same evening that happened, hail and snow from the same storm at different times. One storm knocked out power in a large part of the Santa Fe area for more than 6 hours, and rainfall totals in the city reached around 3 and a half inches by the morning of May 7, more than triple the average amount for the entire month of May. Some mountain locations got 2 to 3 feet of snow. Since this evemt involved both hailstorms and winter weather, I am linking these reports from both my Severe Weather Observation page and my Winter Weather Observation page as well as from this special link for just these pages. You can read my accounts of my observations of the storms each day by following the links below:
May 3, 2025 - Thundersnow in the Santa Fe National Forest - I observe thundersnow at the scenic overlook near Ski Santa Fe and at the Forest Service parking lot just below the ski area parking lots. Graupel (snow pellets), mixed at times with ordinary snowflakes, was accombanied by thunder and at times visible lightning for at least a half hour. Snow and graupoel accumulated to about a half inch in open grassy areas around the Forest Service Parking Lot. Includes detailed reports of my observations, a short video of the closest lightning and thunder, and a longer video showing much of what I observed at both locations.
May 4, 2025 - A Severe Thunderstorm Chase, a Thundersnow Chase, and Snow and Hail at the Same Time - My plan had been to intercept any potentially severe storms in the relatively lower elevations that moved in a way that I could potentially catch them, and then later move up into the mountains for thundersnow once the storms were moving that way. Things more or less worked out as planned, as I did initially chase a storm that ended up getting 2 SVR warnings, and then later drove up into the mountains and got some thundersnow for the second day in a row. And much later, in the late evening, another thunderstorm offered up a meteorological surprise - snow and hail at the same time! This report includes photos of the SVR-warned storm, video of the thundersnow, and video and a photo of the storm that produced snow and hail at the same time - one of the very few times I have ever seen this.
May 5, 2025 - A Morning Hailstorm, an Intense Afternoon Storm with Hail and Wintry Precipitation, and Heavy Mountain Snow -This report includes videos of a morning storm that produced up to 1/3-inch hail in Santa Fe, a picture and a video of an intense afternoon storm that produced wintry mixed precipitation and hail across the greater Santa Fe ares, along with lots of lightning that ended up resulting in a large power outage in and north of the city. Also some pictures showing the snow that accumulated in the mountains, along with a detailed report of my observations of all of the above.
This page last updated May 7, 2025.
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