Heavy Snow — Western Mogollon Rim, Arizona

2014-12-30 to 2014-12-31 · Western Mogollon Rim, Arizona

Event narrative

Here are some snowfall totals for New Years Eve (in inches): Mountainaire 17.0, Kachina Village 12.9, Flagstaff Airport 12.7, Doney Park 12, and Williams 10.2. The Flagstaff Police Department reported 63 accidents where vehicles slid right off highways and 23 collisions, three had relatively minor injuries. By the time the snow ended on New Year's Day, Mountainaire had 20 inches and Mormon Lake ended up with 18 inches.

Wider weather episode

A cold and strong area of low pressure moved southward along the California Coast and became cut off from the jet stream of the southern California Coast. This low brought moisture streaming northward over Arizona. Then, the low moved northeastward over Arizona with lowering snow levels. This storm lasted into New Years Day with the bulk of snow falling before midnight. A few higher elevation locations reported an additional 3-4 inches of snow in the New Year. Almost an inch of snow was reported at Phantom Ranch in the bottom of The Grand Canyon.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 555947. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.