A strong upper low dropped down the Northern Rockies which pushed a back door arctic cold front through the region. An upper level ridge was located over the eastern Pacific with the arctic jet steam diving south to the Mexican border.  These two features combined to bring extremely cold air into the Western United States from Alaska and Canada. Numerous areas experienced rolling power outages and natural gas shortages along with burst pipes. The state of New Mexico declared a State of Emergency due to the natural gas shortages.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in TULAROSA BASIN/SOUTHERN DESERT, NEW MEXICO
From 01-FEB-11 05:00:00 to 04-FEB-11 15:00:00 (MST-7)
Property damage: 500.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High temperatures across the region on Feb 2nd included 9F at McGregor Range, 16 at Alamogordo and 18 at Orogrande. Low temperatures on the morning of Feb 3rd included -19F at Holloman Air Force Base, -13F at Alamogordo Airport, -11F at Orogrande and -7F at McGregor Range. Six water main breaks were reported in Alamogordo.  Natural gas was shutoff to about 5000 customers in the area. The city of Alamogordo declared an emergency in the city due to the extreme winter weather. Around 4000 residents in the county were without natural gas for several days. Most schools were closed for 3 days due to the cold and lack of water and heat, a couple in Alamogordo were closed for 5 days.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS/LOWER GILA REGION, NEW MEXICO
From 01-FEB-11 20:00:00 to 04-FEB-11 15:00:00 (MST-7)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High temperatures on Feb 2nd only warmed to around 19F at Silver City and 23 at the GIla Center RAWS. Low temperatures on the morning of Feb 3rd dropped to -9F at the Silver City Airport, -13F at Mule Creek, and -11F at the Gila Center RAWS.  Natural gas was shut off to many residents around the Silver City area because of low pressure in the lines due to the high demand.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in SOUTHWEST DESERT MIMBRES BASIN, NEW MEXICO
From 01-FEB-11 18:00:00 to 04-FEB-11 15:00:00 (MST-7)
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High temperatures across the region on Feb 2nd included 16F at Deming and 18F about 10 miles south of Deming. Low temperatures on the morning of Feb 3rd included -3F at Cambray near the Luna/Dona Ana County line on Interstate 10, -1F about 10 miles south of Deming, and 0F at Deming. Numerous frozen and burst water pipes were reported.  The Marshall Memorial Library in Deming was closed for some time due to a break in the building's fire suppression system causing damage to the ceiling and insulation.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in SOUTHWEST DESERT/BOOTHILL, NEW MEXICO
From 01-FEB-11 19:00:00 to 04-FEB-11 15:00:00 (MST-7)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High temperatures across the region on Feb 2nd included 20 at Antelope Wells, and 21 in Lordsburg. Low temperatures on the morning of Feb 3rd included -2F at Antelope Wells, 0F at Animas and 0F at Lordsburg.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS, NEW MEXICO
From 01-FEB-11 05:00:00 to 04-FEB-11 15:00:00 (MST-7)
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High temperatures across the Sacramento Mountains on Feb 2nd included -4F at Weed, -3F at Mayhill, -1F in Cloudcroft and 1F at Mescalero. Overnight low temperatures on Feb 3rd included -30F at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, -19F in Cloudcroft, -20F at Mayhill, -16F in Weed and -18F at Cosmic. The town of Cloudcroft lost between 500,000 and 600,000 gallons of water due to water line breaks.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in SIERRA COUNTY LAKES REGION, NEW MEXICO
From 01-FEB-11 10:00:00 to 04-FEB-11 15:00:00 (MST-7)
Property damage: 150.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High temperatures around the area on Feb 2nd included 11F at Truth or Consequences and 18F at Hillsboro. Morning low temperatures on Feb 3rd included -17F on the north end of the Blacks Range, -10F at Hillsboro and -6F at Truth or Consequences.  Each morning from the 1st through the 4th had low temperatures below 10F at Truth or Consequences.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in SOUTHERN DESERT, NEW MEXICO
From 01-FEB-11 10:00:00 to 04-FEB-11 15:00:00 (MST-7)
Property damage: 400.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High temperatures reported across the area on Feb 2nd included 18F at Las Cruces, 16F in Santa Teresa at the National Weather Service Office, 12F at the White Sands Missile Range Headquarters and 13F at Northrup Landing. Morning low temperatures on Feb 3rd included 0F at Las Cruces, -20F at Jornada, -5F at the National Weather Service in Santa Teresa, -10F at the White Sands Missile Range Headquarters and -15F at Northrup Landing.  Numerous frozen and broken pipes were reported, natural gas pressure was at all-time lows and schools were closed for 4 days due to all the problems caused by the cold.