Winter Storm — Northwest Maricopa County, Arizona

2014-12-31 · Northwest Maricopa County, Arizona

Event narrative

A deep and cold upper level Pacific low pressure system ushered winter weather conditions to central Arizona during the morning hours on December 31st. Starting in the late morning, heavy snow started to fall across the higher terrain areas north and east of Phoenix. Due to the very cold temperatures, snow was reported falling in the lower elevations as well; at 0749MST a trained weather spotter in Wickenburg reported snow falling and accumulating. New snow totals were less than one inch. Still, snow accumulating over the lower desert elevations (which is rare) meets local winter storm criteria. A Winter Storm Warning was not in effect for the Wickenburg area on December 31st.

Wider weather episode

A deep and cold upper level low pressure system moved into Arizona from the northwest during late December, and ushered in winter storm conditions mainly to the higher terrain of southern Gila County on December 31st. Initially, light snow accumulated during the morning over the deserts north of Phoenix, and then heavy snow started to fall during the late morning hours over southern Gila County. The heavy snow persisted throughout the entire day and into the morning on January 1st 2015. The heavy snow produced very slick and hazardous road conditions across southern Gila County, especially roads such as highway 60 near Top of the World, and highway 77 north of Globe to the Salt River Canyon. A Winter Storm Warning for Southern Gila County was issued starting at 1100MST on December 31st, which continued through 0600MST on January 1st 2015.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 555240. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.