Area roads in good shape following heavy snowfall

By Leslie Wood
Staff writer

GALLUP — More than 10 inches of snow has fallen in the Gallup area since Saturday, according to an Accuweather.com meteorologist.

On Monday afternoon, Meteorologist Josh Newhard forecast an additional accumulation of 1 to 2 inches by early today.

Newhard said he expects the area will experience a “drying out period” Tuesday that will last for the next couple of days.

He said Gallup has seen 22.8 inches of snow since November, which is “probably right on track for the area.”

The substantial snow storm caused officials to cancel Gallup-Mckinley County schools for Monday and Tuesday, which may have prevented serious problems on local roadways. The snow forced Gallup City Hall to close at 3 p.m. Monday and Gallup-McKinley School officials also canceled parent-teacher conferences. Many local businesses were seen with snow plows or employees with snow shovels clearing parking lots and sidewalks.

Residents of Mossman were out with snow blowers.
Lt. Darren Soland, a spokesman for the New Mexico State Police, said the agency responded to several “slide offs,” but handled no major accidents on Interstate 40.

“We haven’t had a lot of accidents, just a few slide offs,” Soland said.

The roads were described as snow packed Monday night, which prompted officials to open the Larry Brian Mitchell Center for motorists who didn’t want to travel along the icy roadway.

State police also shut down a sobriety check point in Grants over the weekend because of poor weather.

At about noon Monday, a large commercial vehicle slid down a steep hill at the intersection of south First Street and Mesa Avenue. A local towing company was called to pull the vehicle up the hill when it became stuck in a mound of snow and ice.

Les Radosevich, a driver for A&A Towing, said such incidents have been a common occurrence in recent days.

“It’s been pretty busy this year,” Radosevich said of business during the string of snow storms.

The company is housed at Continental Divide, which is one of the most hazardous locations in terms of road conditions, he said.

“Everybody needs to be cautious and slow down,” Radosevich said.

Most roads were passable on Monday afternoon, but then more than more snow fell in the evening and temperatures dropped below freezing.

“They’re (local road crews) keeping the roads pretty clear,” Radosevich said. By Tuesday morning, most city roads were plowed and in good shape. Interstate Highway 40 was open all Monday night and traffic was flowing both east and west.