Even the suburbs in the hills had snow. Yes, it is true that snowfall varies significantly in and around Albuquerque. There are a number of reasons why, but the most significant one is the terrain. Downtown Albuquerque sits at about 5000 feet, Tramway is near 6000 feet, and the top of Sandia Crest is at 10,680 feet. Here at the Albuquerque International Airport we receive an average of a little over 10 inches of snow per year.
Downtown usually averages an inch or two less than the airport.
The area along and east of Tramway receives an average of 20 to 30 inches of snow per year and Sandia Crest averages 116 inches per year. The first official day of winter is December 21st. Here at the Albuquerque International Airport, we average 10.3 inches of snow a year. The winter precipitation forecast for all of New Mexico is for near normal precipitation. The last few winters, most of New Mexico has seen below to well below normal precipitation.