Heavy Snow — Western Mogollon Rim, Arizona

2011-04-08 to 2011-04-09 · Western Mogollon Rim, Arizona

Event narrative

Snow began to fall in the Flagstaff area early morning (5AM) on April 8th. Snow became during the late morning and through the night. Snow in and around Flagstaff ranged between 10 and 13 inches. At 10800 feet, 28 inches of snow fell. Kachina Village picked up 9 inches and Doney Park had 4 inches. Northbound Interstate 17 was closed about 40 miles south of Flagstaff. There was a two fatality crash on Interstate 40 about 15 miles east of Flagstaff. Police and the Department of Public Safety reported numerous other slid offs and collisions around the Flagstaff area. Most were non-injury.

Wider weather episode

A strong Pacific storm brought widespread rain and snow to northern Arizona April 8 and 9th. Light rain and snow began to develop over the Mogollon Rim during the morning of April 8 and then heavier showers began to spread across western Arizona during the afternoon. The rain and snow above about 4500 feet became heavy by evening. The strong cold front slowly moved across the state allowing snow to pile up in the higher elevations. The snow level dropped to as low as 3500 feet once the front moved through. The storm pushed east of Arizona by morning of April 10 leaving patchy fog and very cold temperatures in its wake.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 310453. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.