Jan. 8—A heavier-than-expected dose of snow and ice greeted Santa Feans Monday morning — and it likely won’t be the last of the winter weather hitting Northern New Mexico this week, with frigid temperatures also in the mix, forecasters said.

A Sunday night snowstorm, which continued throughout much of the day Monday, delayed newspaper deliveries and shuttered schools, courts, libraries, community centers and local government offices across Santa Fe.

The storm also prompted Santa Fe Public Schools to call a two-hour delay of Tuesday classes “out of an abundance of caution,” the district announced in a news release late Monday. Morning prekindergarten classes were canceled.

All told, between 1 and 6.5 inches of snow blanketed the city, depending on elevation, Randall Hergert, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Albuquerque office, said Monday.

Wet, icy roads created challenges for drivers, with the New Mexico Department of Transportation road conditions map indicating “difficult driving conditions” in much of the northern half of the state.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said his office responded to a few car accidents in recent days, including one in Tesuque on Monday afternoon, which resulted in a brief road closure though no serious injuries.

“Anytime that we get weather — especially the first storms of the year — we seem to see an increase in traffic accidents,” the sheriff said.

When temperatures drop below 15 degrees or snowfall measures above 6 inches, city and shelter officials activate “Code Blue” protocols, authorizing the Santa Fe Fire Department’s Alternative Response Unit to work with Consuelo’s Place and the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place to ensure homeless residents have a safe, warm place to go. The city activated Code Blue protocols starting Friday, said Korina Lopez, Pete’s Place’s executive director.

Meanwhile, an aircraft deicing truck also caught fire Sunday evening at the Santa Fe Regional Airport, City Manager John Blair said.

City firefighters extinguished the fire, Blair wrote in an email, and there were no injuries or damage to property aside from the truck, which belongs to United Airlines.

City Fire Chief Brian Moya said the department was still investigating the incident Monday and had not yet determined the cause of the fire.

The airport was in full operation Sunday evening, and no runways were affected by the fire, Blair wrote.

Deicing trucks are specialized vehicles used to remove ice and frost from aircraft before takeoff, according to an industry news publication. The Santa Fe Fire Department was dispatched to the airport at 6:23 p.m. following a report of the truck fire, which was on a ramp leading to a taxiway, according to Blair’s email.

The department’s airport rescue firefighters put out the fire using a dry chemical “similar to that in a household fire extinguisher,” Blair wrote. Firefighters were on the scene two hours later, working with United Airlines employees to confirm the full shutdown of the truck.

Though conditions in Santa Fe will improve Monday night and Tuesday, the snowstorm is expected to continue to batter the northeastern corner of the state Monday, with whiteout conditions and winds over 60 mph. The National Weather Service has issued blizzard warnings extending through Tuesday morning for Raton Pass as well as parts of Union, Harding, eastern San Miguel, Quay and Curry counties.

“We’re recommending no one travel if they don’t have to through Northeastern New Mexico today,” Hergert said Monday. “If they do, it’s an absolute must to check the road conditions and bring a winter travel kit with them.”

Though conditions are slated to improve Tuesday, Hergert said this won’t be the last of Northern New Mexico’s winter weather.

Very low temperatures — ranging from the low single-digits to the teens — will continue Tuesday and Wednesday, with wind chills as low as minus-20 degrees in Taos. Santa Fe residents can expect wind chills around minus-9 to minus-10 degrees.

Those conditions are dangerous, Hergert said: Frostbite can set in within minutes for those without proper attire and shelter.

“It’s one of those days where we need to check up on each other,” the meteorologist said. “If you have grandparents or young children — or really anybody, it doesn’t matter their age — just check up on your neighbors. Make sure that they’re sheltered.”

And Thursday night, Northern New Mexico residents can expect another storm, albeit projected to be weaker than the one that covered Santa Fe in snow Monday.

It’s too soon to tell precisely what the next bout of winter wind and snow will look like, Hergert said; the specifics of the area’s next storm will be determined by ongoing weather conditions and the speed at which the next storm system rolls over the state.

But he added Santa Feans can expect anywhere from a dusting to a few more inches of snow by Friday morning.

Staff writer Carina Julig contributed to this report.