Heavy Snow — Upper Gila River Valley, Arizona

2009-02-09 to 2009-02-10 · Upper Gila River Valley, Arizona

Event narrative

Three to four inches of snowfall occurred in the lower elevation areas outside the Upper Gila River valley including Fort Grant, Klondyke and Highway 191 south of Safford. The mountain tops including Mt. Graham had in excess of one foot of snow with drifts up to four feet.

Wider weather episode

A quick moving cold storm system moved through Southeast Arizona late February 9th into the early morning hours of February 10th. This low pressure brought snowfall to elevations as low as 2500 feet including Tucson. Populated locations across Southeast Arizona at elevations between 3000 and 5000 feet received several inches of snowfall with well over a foot of snow across the mountain tops.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 145992. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.