Heavy Snow — Northern Gila County, Arizona

2009-02-09 to 2009-02-10 · Northern Gila County, Arizona

Event narrative

Six inches of snow fell in Payson and Star Valley. Fifteen inches of snow fell in Tonto Village. Highways 87, 260, and 60 were closed because road crews could not keep up with the heavy snow. Schools were closed and trash pick up was canceled. A dozen garbage trucks were used to plow roads instead. School buses couldn't even get out of the parking area on the morning of February 10th.

Wider weather episode

A second storm in two days brought record amounts of snow to portions of northern Arizona on February 9th. The Arizona Department of Public Safety reported hundreds of vehicle collisions across northern Arizona. One DPS commander said that it was the worst snowstorm that he had to deal with in northern Arizona.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 150238. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.