'Dangerous' winter storm creates hazardous travel in Arizona
By
Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Jan 27, 2021 1:12 PM EDT
The highest elevations of the Southwest were the first to feel the effects of a storm that will spread a wide swath of snow, ice and rain from the nation's midsection to the East Coast into Wednesday.
This storm system was the first in a series of potent storms that will continue to target portions of Arizona and other areas of the Southwest through midweek.
As of Monday morning, local time, snow totals had already begun to climb across the state. The National Weather Service's Flagstaff office, which referred to the storm as "dangerous," was already covered by a thick blanket of snow with plenty more snow to come.
The highest elevations across Arizona are no strangers to snow during the winter. Flagstaff itself averages just over 100 inches -- a little more than 8 feet -- of snowfall each season. Since Dec. 1, 2020, Flagstaff has received 34.4 inches of snow. From Saturday to Sunday, 12.8 inches of snow blanketed the city, making it the highest two-day snowfall total so far this year.
On Monday alone, the city was buried by 14.3 inches of snow. It had been over a year since that much snow fell in a single day. Flagstaff received 15.8 inches of snow on Nov. 29, 2019.
The first flakes began to fly Saturday night across the highest elevations of Arizona.
Residents of Coconino County and Gila County awoke on Sunday morning to discover between 6 inches and just over 1 foot of snow had fallen. The Flagstaff Pulliam Airport in Flagstaff, Arizona, had received an impressive 8.4 inches of snow, while reports in the city itself ranged from 7 to 9 inches.
Snow quickly began to cause problems for residents who needed to travel in the state, especially across the northern regions.
As snow continued to fall on Sunday, the Arizona Department of Transportation (Arizona DOT) repeatedly advised residents to consider postponing travel if possible, or if travel was necessary, to slow down and use extreme caution. A video taken from an Arizona DOT snowplow demonstrated just how treacherous roadway conditions were over the weekend.
It wasn't long before accidents, delays and road closures began to add up across the state on Sunday. At one point on Sunday evening, heavy congestion could be seen across a nearly 50-mile-long stretch of Interstate 17 to the south of Flagstaff.
Conditions deteriorated even further late Sunday as the second, and most potent, in a series of disruptive storms for began its journey through Arizona.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
As of early Monday, State Route 89A, which connects Flagstaff and Sedona, Arizona, remained impassible and closed in both directions with no timeline to reopen the roadway, according to Arizona DOT.
Snowfall across the area into Tuesday will continue to help pad the region's snowpack and provide a boon to area ski resorts.
From Saturday into Tuesday, heavy snow dumped an incredible 46 inches of snow on the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort. 30 of these 46 inches fell from Monday morning to early Tuesday morning alone.
AccuWeather forecasters say that a general 6 to 12 inches can fall across much of the high country while up to an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 60 inches can occur along the Mogollon Rim through Tuesday.
Despite the travel hazards, bulking up the snowpack across the high country will only help to ease drought conditions across the area when the snow ultimately melts. Most of the state of Arizona is still in the midst of extreme to exceptional drought, according to the United States Drought Monitor.
While portions of Arizona may be used to winter snow, flakes flying through the air is a strange phenomenon for other parts of the Southwest, like Las Vegas. The last time accumulating snowfall was recorded in Las Vegas was back on Feb. 20-21, 2019. Overnight on Monday, flurries were witnessed at the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas, although snow was not officially reported at the airport.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Winter Weather
'Dangerous' winter storm creates hazardous travel in Arizona
By Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Jan 27, 2021 1:12 PM EDT
The highest elevations of the Southwest were the first to feel the effects of a storm that will spread a wide swath of snow, ice and rain from the nation's midsection to the East Coast into Wednesday.
This storm system was the first in a series of potent storms that will continue to target portions of Arizona and other areas of the Southwest through midweek.
As of Monday morning, local time, snow totals had already begun to climb across the state. The National Weather Service's Flagstaff office, which referred to the storm as "dangerous," was already covered by a thick blanket of snow with plenty more snow to come.
The highest elevations across Arizona are no strangers to snow during the winter. Flagstaff itself averages just over 100 inches -- a little more than 8 feet -- of snowfall each season. Since Dec. 1, 2020, Flagstaff has received 34.4 inches of snow. From Saturday to Sunday, 12.8 inches of snow blanketed the city, making it the highest two-day snowfall total so far this year.
On Monday alone, the city was buried by 14.3 inches of snow. It had been over a year since that much snow fell in a single day. Flagstaff received 15.8 inches of snow on Nov. 29, 2019.
The first flakes began to fly Saturday night across the highest elevations of Arizona.
Residents of Coconino County and Gila County awoke on Sunday morning to discover between 6 inches and just over 1 foot of snow had fallen. The Flagstaff Pulliam Airport in Flagstaff, Arizona, had received an impressive 8.4 inches of snow, while reports in the city itself ranged from 7 to 9 inches.
Snow quickly began to cause problems for residents who needed to travel in the state, especially across the northern regions.
As snow continued to fall on Sunday, the Arizona Department of Transportation (Arizona DOT) repeatedly advised residents to consider postponing travel if possible, or if travel was necessary, to slow down and use extreme caution. A video taken from an Arizona DOT snowplow demonstrated just how treacherous roadway conditions were over the weekend.
It wasn't long before accidents, delays and road closures began to add up across the state on Sunday. At one point on Sunday evening, heavy congestion could be seen across a nearly 50-mile-long stretch of Interstate 17 to the south of Flagstaff.
Conditions deteriorated even further late Sunday as the second, and most potent, in a series of disruptive storms for began its journey through Arizona.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
As of early Monday, State Route 89A, which connects Flagstaff and Sedona, Arizona, remained impassible and closed in both directions with no timeline to reopen the roadway, according to Arizona DOT.
Related:
Snowfall across the area into Tuesday will continue to help pad the region's snowpack and provide a boon to area ski resorts.
From Saturday into Tuesday, heavy snow dumped an incredible 46 inches of snow on the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort. 30 of these 46 inches fell from Monday morning to early Tuesday morning alone.
AccuWeather forecasters say that a general 6 to 12 inches can fall across much of the high country while up to an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 60 inches can occur along the Mogollon Rim through Tuesday.
Despite the travel hazards, bulking up the snowpack across the high country will only help to ease drought conditions across the area when the snow ultimately melts. Most of the state of Arizona is still in the midst of extreme to exceptional drought, according to the United States Drought Monitor.
While portions of Arizona may be used to winter snow, flakes flying through the air is a strange phenomenon for other parts of the Southwest, like Las Vegas. The last time accumulating snowfall was recorded in Las Vegas was back on Feb. 20-21, 2019. Overnight on Monday, flurries were witnessed at the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas, although snow was not officially reported at the airport.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo