Winter storm brings snow to Otero County

Winter weather came through Otero County in the early morning hours of March 11 and continued through the day in some parts of the county.

The National Weather Service-El Paso issued a winter weather advisory for the Sacramento Mountains effective until noon Friday, March 11.

Three to five inches of snow with ice accumulations were expected in elevations above 7,500 feet, the advisory stated.

The roads were so icy that High Rolls/Mountain Park Elementary students attended school virtually Friday.

Secondary students attending Alamogordo High School and Chaparral Middle School who live in the mountain communities including Laborcita Canyon who rely on busses to get to school were also on virtual learning Friday, according to Alamogordo Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Colleen Tagle.

Tularosa Municipal Schools were all on virtual learning Friday.

Cloudcroft Municipal Schools started out in-person but pivoted to virtual at about 9:30 a.m.

"The weather was extremely hard to call this morning as the majority of the snow fell in a very short period of time," a Cloudcroft Municipal Schools Facebook post states. 

"The schools will be transitioning to remote learning for the remainder of the day. If your student is already at school, please make arrangements to pick them up as soon as possible. Otherwise, those students at school will be learning virtually in some cases as many staff members were not able to drive safely to school."

Story continues below.

The weekend forecast for Alamogordo shows skies beginning to clear around 11 a.m. Friday with temperatures falling to 24 degrees overnight with clear skies. Saturday and Sunday were expected to be clear and gradually warming back to highs in the 60s.

The weekend forecast for Cloudcroft shows skies eventually clearing Friday afternoon with an overnight low of 12 degrees with clear skies. Saturday and Sunday were also expected to be clear and warming back to highs in the 40s to 50s.

More:Winter weather on the way, road crews are prepared

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.