Public Safety

TUCUMCARI, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Department of Transportation is urging motorists to reduce speed due to difficult driving conditions Monday on numerous highways in northern New Mexico.

Crews plowed, salted and cindered Interstate 40 in the Tucumcari area where several inches of snow accumulated.

Workers also cleared snow on Interstate 25 north of Las Vegas.

Other highways with difficult conditions reported by the New Mexico Department of Transportation include U.S. 64 near Taos Pass, New Mexico 38 from Bobcat Pass to Eagle Nest and New Mexico 104 between Las Vegas and Tucumcari.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MST THIS EVENING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... 2 TO 4 INCHES GENERALLY EXPECTED AT ELEVATIONS NEAR AND BELOW 7500 FEET. 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE LIKELY FOR THE HIGH PEAKS OF THE JEMEZ MOUNTAINS AND UPPER GILA REGION.

* TIMING... SNOW WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING BEFORE TAPERING OFF FROM WEST TO EAST OVER THE AREA THIS NEW YEARS EVE.

* WINDS... SIGNIFICANT WINDS ARE NOT EXPECTED.

* SNOW LEVELS... TEMPERATURES WILL BE COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW AT ALL ELEVATIONS.

* LOCAL IMPACTS... REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN FALLING SNOW COMBINED WITH SNOW PACKED AND ICY ROADS WILL CREATE DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL PRIMARILY CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES.

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Officials whose job it is to oversee security in the community, the schools and at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, met to discuss security measures in wake of the school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Meant to be the first in a series of meetings, the main topic of the meeting was assessing what successful security measures the Los Alamos Public School system is doing now and how it might be improved.

The first part of the meeting was a review of the district-wide plan by LAPS Superintendent Dr. Gene Schmidt. The plan, which is not available to the public, details how law enforcement and the schools should deal with a “shooter” type scenario, as well as all other kinds of emergency and disaster scenarios. However, Schmidt urged decision makers at the meeting to concentrate on the shooter scenario.

“The real intent of this is to have you tell us should we be thinking about this or that as part of your own safety plan,”

Schmidt said to the school principals and other school officials who attended the meeting.

The review also included a live feed of a security camera system from one of the elementary schools and how it works, as well as how police would react to an “active shooter.”

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM MST TUESDAY.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... 3 TO 6 INCHES ACROSS THE SAN JUAN... JEMEZ AND SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS... AND 1 TO 3 INCHES ACROSS THE NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS AND UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY.

* TIMING... SNOW WILL BEGIN LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH CHRISTMAS MORNING. THE HEAVIEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE LIKELY LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY CHRISTMAS MORNING.

* WINDS... WESTERLY WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH.

* SNOW LEVELS... TEMPERATURES WILL BE COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW AT ALL LOCATIONS.

* LOCAL IMPACTS... SNOW PACKED AND ICY ROADWAYS ARE POSSIBLE CREATING DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS FOR THE HOLIDAY. BLOWING SNOW WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES BELOW 2 MILES AT TIMES. DANGEROUS WIND CHILL VALUES FROM 10 BELOW ZERO TO 10 ABOVE ZERO ARE EXPECTED LATER TONIGHT AND CHRISTMAS MORNING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW MEANS THAT VISIBILITIES WILL BE RESTRICTED DUE TO A COMBINATION OF FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW.