Photos: Snowstorm blankets New Mexico
A Minnesota State Trooper's patrol car was rammed by a large truck on Interstate 9, in the middle of a snowstorm in Minnesota. Officials say they're looking for the driver, who fled the seen following the accident on December 27.
A rare New Mexico blizzard brought a shocking amount of snow to Albuquerque and other areas of New Mexico on Thursday night and Friday as strong winds reduced visibility caused extensive travel issues and shut down large areas of the state.
"The majority of the snow that fell around Albuquerque came on Thursday night, when two inches were reported at the airport but four to five inches in the far eastern heights of the city," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said.
"Then, strong winds increased on Friday morning and that shut the snow mostly off for the city. Those winds, however, blew the snow that fell around and dramatically reduced visibility," Pydynowski said.
Pydynowski added that the visibility dropped down to "one-quarter of a mile at the city’s international airport early on Friday morning."
Elsewhere in New Mexico, areas around the Manzano Mountains received up to 18 inches of snow on Friday morning.
In El-Paso, temperatures got low enough for a wintry advisory warning to be posted until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Rain mixed with snow in the city on Friday evening, before switching over to all snow on Friday night.
The heavy snowfall and severe driving conditions caused a 16-mile stretch of US-82 to close.
Report a Typo