Flood — Navajo, Arizona

2023-03-22 to 2023-03-23 · near Zeniff, Navajo, Arizona

Event narrative

Highway 377 between Heber and Holbrook was closed due to flooding at mile post 13 around 900 AM on March 22. Seymour's Crossing was flooded the night of March 22. A vehicle was swept downstream for about an hour. The occupants were able to reach the bank but, were separated. The woman's body was found the next day.

Wider weather episode

The first in a series of disturbances moved across Arizona from March 20 to 21. This caused widespread snow showers to develop. The heaviest snow was over the higher terrain in upslope areas. This storm also delivered strong and damaging winds. The higher snow levels caused significant melting of lower elevation snow and flooding. The flooding took several days to flow down major rivers in northern Arizona.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.5018, -110.3277)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1097457. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.