Heavy Snow — Oak Creek and Sycamore Canyons, Arizona

2022-02-23 · Oak Creek and Sycamore Canyons, Arizona

Event narrative

Around 4 inches of snow fell across the Sedona area and 6 inches at Slide Rock State Park.

Wider weather episode

A large trough of low pressure brought increasing moisture off from off the eastern Pacific marine layer over central Arizona. This brought extensive upslope snow shower activity coverage, especially along and White Mountains. The trough brought very cold air across Arizona (down to -12C at 700 mb) with saturation to at least 500 mb. This made for a very efficient snow process with significant, widespread accumulations.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1010862. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.