White Christmas is possible for Santa Fe, forecasters say

Dec. 18—Santa Fe might enjoy a white Christmas this year, or at least a white Christmas Eve.

A storm moving in from the Pacific Coast might also bring rain or a mix of rain and snow, meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque said in a news briefing Monday.

Forecast models show the storm is likely to hit Western New Mexico sometime Friday.

Rain is likely, with snow in areas above 8,000 feet, as the storm moves eastward, meteorologists said.

"There are uncertainties, though," said meteorologist Scott Overpeck, adding much will depend on the path the storm takes and how low temperatures drop.

Meteorologist Annette Mokry said in an interview after the briefing the Santa Fe area could get 1 or 2 inches from the storm between Saturday night, when temperatures drop to the freezing mark, and Sunday.

The conditions on Christmas Day are a little tougher to predict, she said, but the system could throw one last punch of precipitation "on its way out the door."

Mokry expects dry, sunny and cool conditions through the rest of the week after Christmas.

The Santa Fe area also could get rain Wednesday from a weaker storm system. Temperatures are expected to reach up into the high 40s through most of the week, about 5 degrees colder than the average for this time of year, she said.

Meteorologist Clay Anderson said in the briefing a series of storms could come into New Mexico from the West Coast in early to mid-January, "spreading east and northeast across the desert Southwest ... including New Mexico."

For those craving precipitation, the string of storms could be "something to get excited about," he said.

An El Niño climate pattern has brought almost weekly storms to New Mexico, including Santa Fe, over the past few weeks.