Frost/Freeze — Southwest Deserts, Arizona

2011-02-02 to 2011-02-04 · Southwest Deserts, Arizona

Event narrative

Yuma county's Cooperative Extension Director reported that most, if not all, of the growing areas in Yuma county were a affected by a hard freeze that occurred during the mornings of February 3rd and 4th. According to Kurt Nolte, some fields of leafy green vegatables were wiped out by the freeze while others had significant damage. The official low temperatures at the Yuma weather station were 30 degrees on the 3rd and 32 on the 4th.

Wider weather episode

An extremely cold Canadian airmass settled over the the Arizona desert during the first week of February 2011. The cold dry air set the stage for a hard freeze that lasted for two days. The subfreezing conditions caused pipes to burst and caused widespread damage to frost-sensitive plants and crops.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 275972. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.