Heavy Snow — New River Mesa, Arizona

2019-02-21 to 2019-02-22 · New River Mesa, Arizona

Event narrative

A large, wet and cold winter weather system sluggishly moved east across Arizona, bringing locally heavy snowfall to higher terrain areas northeast of Phoenix starting in the later afternoon on February 21st and continuing into the morning hours on Friday February 22nd. As of 0745MST on the 22nd, the public reported that 12 inches of new snow had fallen near Tonto Hills, about 6 miles northeast of Carefree. The heavy snow fell at an elevation of about 3000 feet. A Winter Storm Warning was in effect at the time of the heavy snow. No accidents or injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

A large and slow moving low pressure system moved across Arizona from Wednesday February 20th through Friday February 22nd. The system was very cold, and snow levels dropped to near 2000 feet across south-central Arizona, including the greater Phoenix area, overnight on the 21st. In addition to being a cold system, it was rather wet, and resulted in widespread moderate desert rains, and periods of moderate to heavy snow across the high terrain north and east of central Phoenix. Snowfall in excess of 8 to 10 inches fell over many locations across the higher terrain east of Phoenix, including the Globe area; at 0825MST public reports were received of nearly 15 inches of new snow at Top of the World between Globe and Superior. About one hour earlier, the Arizona Department of Highways reported 8 inches of new snow 5 miles southwest of Miami; the snow resulted in the closure of highway 60 between Globe and Miami. Heavy snow also fell on the northern and eastern fringes of the greater Phoenix area; at 0749MST on the 22nd the public reported 12 inches of new snow near Tonto Hills at about 3000 feet in elevation. Heavy snow up to 9 inches also was reported in locations such as Fountain Hills, north Scottsdale and Carefree. At 2200MST on the 21st, heavy snow up to 8 inches deep resulted in 50 thousand dollars in damage to the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in northeast Scottsdale, about 9 miles north of Fountain Hills. A Winter Storm Warning was in effect for more than 2 days for elevations above 3000 feet north and east of Phoenix. There were no reports of accidents or injuries due to the heavy snow, fortunately.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 802449. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.