Cows in Rociada, New Mexico, were buried under nearly 3 feet of snow as an early season winter storm hit the region hard on Thursday.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, warned residents in the area about the storm earlier this week. As of Friday afternoon, myriad winter-weather related warnings remained in place across the state, including a winter storm warning, winter weather advisory and a blizzard warning. Treacherous conditions were expected until after the storm moves out of the region on Friday night.
A herd of cows in a high-elevation unincorporated community weathered the storm with snow up to their chests, according to a video taken on Thursday. At the time the video was taken, 30 inches of snow had fallen in the area. As of Thursday night, an additional 7 inches had fallen, the meteorologist who shared the video said.
"Drifting snowfall was nearly halfway burying cattle this morning in Rociada, NM," KRQE NEWS 13 meteorologist Ryan DePhillips posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The video was credited to Lena Atencio, who reportedly filmed the snow-covered cows on Thursday morning.
NWS Weather Prediction Center meteorologist Marc Chenard estimated that snow totals in Rociada could be even higher as of Friday morning, as snow continued to fall.
"This is a significant storm," Chenard told Newsweek. "Some areas are probably going to set all-time record snowfall for 48- to 72-hour periods given some of these amounts we are looking at."
"In general, this type of snow is not that common at any time of the season," he added.
Given the high elevations, typically snow hits areas like Colorado or New Mexico in season transition times—late fall or early spring—when much of the rest of the United States is still too warm for snow.
Regardless, the ongoing snow could be regarded as a "historic storm" in some areas, Chenard said.
Chenard said the highest totals—upwards of 3 feet—were reported in areas like Rociada. Other areas, like Las Vegas, have received around 2 feet of snow.
NWS Albuquerque posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday night that the most extreme impacts were expected in northeastern New Mexico, where Rociada is located. Other areas expecting extreme impacts included Los Alamos and Clayton.
Motorists in those areas were advised not to travel, as bumper-to-bumper traffic was reported on Interstate 40 on Friday morning amid hazardous driving conditions.
"Expect substantial disruptions to daily life," an NWS infographic about the storm said. "Extremely dangerous or impossible driving conditions."
"Life-saving actions may be needed," it added.
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