Winter Storm — Upper Gila River Valley, Arizona

2009-12-07 to 2009-12-08 · Upper Gila River Valley, Arizona

Event narrative

About 18 inches of snow occurred on Mt. Graham above 9000 feet.

Wider weather episode

An intense winter storm passed through Arizona during the evening hours of December 7th and during the early morning hours of December 8th. Heavy snowfall and very strong winds combined to produce winter storm conditions in the mountains of southeast Arizona, with blizzard conditions occurring at times. A particularly strong pressure gradient south of this storm produced a significant nighttime high wind event across much of southeast Arizona, with many reports of damage.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 198769. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.