Winter Storm — Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains, Arizona

2017-01-20 to 2017-01-21 · Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains, Arizona

Event narrative

Very heavy snow and strong damaging winds occurred on the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains. Numerous trees were toppled over along Catalina Highway near Mt. Lemmon. Additionally, one felled tree damaged a cable line on one of Ski Valley's ski lifts. Power was lost to most of the mountain for nearly 48 hours, and several communication and broadcast transmission towers were inoperable for several hours before backup generators functioned properly. Reports of 18 to 24 inches of snow were common. At lower elevations, rain caused rock slides that blocked portions of Catalina Highway and damaged guard rails.

Wider weather episode

A winter storm impacted southeast Arizona on January 20th and 21st. This storm resulted in very heavy snow across area mountain ranges, especially over 7000 feet in elevation with some locations seeing in excess of 2 feet of snow. Strong winds caused damage at both high and lower elevations including the Tucson metro area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 666743. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.