WINTER: snow chains? (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho: house, neighborhood, schools)

[skippy22]

I'm wondering about the winter in abq and rio rancho.
i have looked up all about the snow fall and temps and all that good stuff.
but what i'm wondering and can't seem to find out is do you need snow chains? i think that's what they are called...haha...sorry...

is there lots of ice on the roads? whats the main concern during the winter months? do they usually clear the roads right away?

i'm very excited to have my first white christmas!!

i can probably think of 30 more questions but this shall suffice

thx homies

[trappedinNM]

Originally Posted by skippy22

but what i'm wondering and can't seem to find out is do you need snow chains? i think that's what they are called...haha...sorry...

Not in the city proper. I can think of only two or three occasions where they would have been handy in the city. I use mine for hunting and skiing, though.

[ziaAirmac]

Usually the heavy storms hit in the evenings. You wake up to a blanket of snow. The road crews have the main roads plowed and salt/gravel other routes. Everything gets pushed back to 10am because many times the worst is over by then. The toughest part is getting out of your neighborhood. Ice isn't a huge issue. Generally it's either white pack or a slushy clear thing going on.

[GregW]

Most of us in New Hampshire do not bother with chains and generally any snow that gets here in December is still here in March. I would think decent all season radials would suffice unless you were on dirt mountain roads in a snow storm.

[EnjoyEP]

Hi Skippy, are you moving from somewhere coastal or tropical? Somewhere like Southern Florida or SoCal or HI?

If so, I see where your thoughts about winter come in a bit in ABQ, but overall, I am kind of baffled at even some of the responses on this one thus far!

This isn't Billings, MT or Fairbanks, AK or Fargo, ND you are moving to - you are moving to one of the most mild winter-d cities in the US that still have four seasons. Albuquerque averages roughly the same annual snowfall totals in the city that places like Northern Alabama average...hardly a snow winter wonderland.

Snow chains? Many in ABQ don't even own a snow shovel!

I think folks still have vivid memories of the Great ABQ Snowdump of 2006 in their mind fresh, but that was such an aberration. Heck, places like Dallas / Fort Worth will get a snow dump every now and then, but that hardly qualifies for a need for real winter snow concerns.

Albuquerque - in the city (eg: not the mountains or the foothills meaning east of Tramway Blvd. right up on the mountains) - averages annually 7 to 11 inches of snowfall per year. 7 to 11. Compare that to the 60+ averaged in the city proper of Denver CO or the 45-50 in Chicago, IL or the 30+ in NYC...ABQ's snowfall is miniscule. Albuquerque averages less annual snowfall than Louisville, KY and not much greater than Memphis, TN.

Of those 7 to 11 inches of snowfall, generally I found much (most) of it melted within a day, if not within hours. One morning I woke up to 3 inches of snowfall that had fallen early in the AM, and literally by 2pm it was in the mid-50s...the sun was so strong...and you couldn't tell it had snowed.

I found that on most years, you'd get 2 to 4 snowfalls of fairly minimal quantities...3 inches max...and it'd melt rapidly.

Record keeping history shows many years in ABQ was nearly no snowfall.

2006 was an amazing aberration for snowfall in ABQ - 30+ inches fell - still, this was largely off of one amazingly flukish storm, and again, 33 inches is pretty darn low for much of the northern US. This was literally a once-in-a-lifetime (or greater) snow dump...nothing I would get too charged up about.

Snow chains...absolutely not. Unless you are going to be offroading in mountains (where obviously snowfall is much, much greater), if you are driving in the city primarily, you'd need snow chains about as frequently as you'd need them in Atlanta (eg: Hotlanta) or Memphis or Birmingham, AL.

As for the white Christmas thing, I hate to disappoint skippy, but you have a much, much better of being able to play golf in the afternoon of Christmas (not saying you're a golfer...just saying a better chance for stuff like that) than having a "White Christmas".

NOAA weather charts always show White Christmas probabilities across the US, and they always list Albuquerque in the "less than 5%" or "5 to 10%" category, meaning, it can happen maybe once every 10 years or so, but it isn't very frequent.

See this chart: 24 Hour News 8 Blogs » Odds of a White Christmas

*(ABQ sits in the brown...the brown "hitch" in central NM is the start of the Rio Grande valley in which ABQ sits...the purple/blue directly to the right is the Sandia Mountains and the Manzanos, etc.). If you want a much greater chance for white Christmas...head up I-25 6 hours north of ABQ...to Denver.

*Finally, note that the average general winter high temperature in ABQ is 50 degrees with a low of 25. Thus, while there will be some chilly and cold temps in an ABQ winter, with the average high of 50, there'll be very many daytime temps in the 48 to 61 degree range too; factor in the strong sun, snow doesn't have much of a chance in general.

*I should note...Rio Rancho probably is close to 10-11 inches of average snowfall than the 7-9 inches (which would be more in the valleys), however, it isn't significantly different.

[rybert]

I just throw on my winter tires (Bridgestone Blizzak). Chains... probably not.

[skippy22]

well thk u thk u all!!
i appreciate the info....

enjoyep yeah i saw alot of vids from 2006 Christmas and 2007 Christmas with the snow. so i assumed white Christmas... =)

it's very nice to hear that it wont be as big an issue as we thought...

i'm moving from northern california in the valley. where it NEVER snows. just lots of rain..and fog..thats it...and i have never driven in the snow.

so thats why i was so concerned about winters there. cause even just 3 inches is more then what i have dealt with driving wise haha

i found schools though that will teach you how to drive in snow and all that so i'm thinking of investing. we shall see...

so you guys think no snow chains is fine? maybe keep them in the trunk?
maybe i'll just take a cab everywhere =)

thx so much!

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by skippy22

so you guys think no snow chains is fine? maybe keep them in the trunk?
maybe i'll just take a cab everywhere =)

thx so much!

I hear ya skippy. Coming from somewhere with no snow, I understand your concern.

Seriously though, I currently live in Milwaukee freaking Wisconsin. 60 miles north of Chicago. Surely you've heard all of the hoopla over Chicago's winters. And I don't ever - EVER - recall using snow chains (I don't recall because I have never used them). Milwaukee averages around 50 inches of annual snowfall. This year, the city received a total of 100 inches of snowfall (not exaggerating...these are the actual numbers). While some of the blizzards brought hazardous driving conditions for sure, snow chains? No.

I would even be baffled as to why in ABQ one would put snow tires on their car. Not saying they are wrong to do so, but it just snows so little and so infrequently in ABQ, I just would see no reason as to why you'd do it. Now, in rybert's case, I recall rybert saying he lived in Moriarty previously when in NM...that might be a reason. The East Mountains are a different story and surely pick up much more snow...driving through the Canyon, etc., and up the backside of the mountain might bring on a need for winter tires.

But in the city? Where most people live/work, etc., snow is so infrequent and insignificant.

I mean, when it DOES snow more than a flurry, the whole city freaks out and shuts down anyway!!! ABQ's snowfall is about the same in populace reaction as it is in Northern Virginia, Birmingham, Memphis, Dallas/Fort Worth, etc. Yes, in all of these towns, it can and does snow (and once in a blue moon like ABQ in 2006 there will be a mighty "Denver-esque" blizzard)...but odds are strong that if it snows more than 1 inch anyway, people will all be hunkering in their house anyway!!

ABQ lies in a fairly temperate valley temps-wise where snow is pretty infrequent and insignificant. HOWEVER, remember the mountains are similar to what you see in Cali - just closer and more accessible in ABQ. If you choose to go to an East Mountain town, Santa Fe, etc., sure, those higher altitudes will bring more odds for some snow.

In all, you might have snowfall on the roads (before it has melted / been cleared) for a TOTAL of 0.5 days in the entire winter in ABQ. Hardly a reason to worry about anything or taking a cab anywhere.

[AlisonL]

We didn't use tire chains when we lived in Maine, and this past winter, we saw well over 8 feet of snow. ABQ winters are going to be a piece of cake for us. The main thing to remember when driving in snow is to SLOW DOWN.

[rybert]

Yeah, I had a commute from Moriarty to ABQ about once a week.

I also like the look of the tires (but that's a whole other story).