Residents Enjoy Brilliant Blanket Of Snow

EL PASO — Snow — a relatively rare phenomenon in theborderland area — brought out revelers in droves on Saturday.

The flurries began before dawn on the Northeast side of town, and authorities shut down Transmountain Rd. after they determined it wasn’t safe to drive on due toice accumulations.

ABC 7 visited various places in the area where after-Thanksgiving shoppers were undeterred by the lower temperatures and potentially slick roads. Particularly busy was the Wal-Mart location on Woodrow Bean near the Patriot Freeway. The parking lot of the store was at near capacity in the morning.

“We still get four seasons in this city. This is a beautiful place to live — just look around,” one shopper said.

ABC 7 also managed to catch up with some outdoor enthusiasts who took an opportunity to be out in the sun. The sunshine illuminated the snowy surfaces with a sparkling brilliance as some hiked through the Franklin Mountains near Cohen Stadium. “It’s almost like whiteout, like when you’re at Ski Apache and there are clouds on the surface of the earth,” said Kim Brown, whoaugmented her hiking gear withplenty of warm clothing.

Brown saidthe day afforded her a glimpse of rare beauty than a real danger.

“The desert has such beautiful seasons,” she said. “It’s already been yellow and orange for the fall, and now we have winter.”