Thunder ice possible as winter storms intensifies and expands from South to Northeast

In New Mexico, on the far west side of this massive winter storm, the snow and ice have brought down so many trees and power lines that crews responsible for restoring electricity have had to withdraw for the night.

“Trees are breaking off due to the heavy snow load and still falling on the line creating a very dangerous situation for crews,” the Otero County Electric Cooperative said on Facebook.

Otero County is on the southern border of New Mexico, northeast of El Paso, Texas. Cloudcroft, where the cooperative is headquartered, was expected to get up to 10 inches of snow.

“Our apologies to our Timberon members that we are unable to get your power restored tonight, but hope you understand that the safety of our employees has to be top priority,” the cooperative said.