Alert archive / Arizona / Winter Storm Warnings in 2010

Winter Storm Warning 3, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

January 21, 2010Coconino County, Yavapai County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this winter storm warning at Jan 21, 2010, 1:00 PM MST for Coconino County, Yavapai County, Arizona. It took effect at Jan 22, 2010, 12:00 AM MST. It was in force for 31 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 21, 2010, 1:00 PM MST (20:00 UTC)
In effect from
Jan 22, 2010, 12:00 AM MST
Expired
Jan 23, 2010, 6:51 AM MST
In force
31 hr
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ

Counties Coconino County, AZ, Yavapai County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:01 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Flgstf/Belemont, AZ (KFGZ), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 33 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 2010-01-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 2010-01-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 273 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156175194Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
661 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
83 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
273 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
296 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this winter storm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this winter storm warning went out at Jan 21, 9:46 AM MST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 9:46 AM MST, 3 hours 14 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 21, 11:41 AM MST, 1 hour 19 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1141 AM MST THU JAN 21 2010

AZZ004>018-037>040-220800-
KAIBAB PLATEAU-MARBLE AND GLEN CANYONS-GRAND CANYON COUNTRY-
COCONINO PLATEAU-YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS HWY 264 NORTHWARD-CHINLE VALLEY-
CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU-
LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN COCONINO COUNTY-
LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY-
LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY-
WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-WHITE MOUNTAINS-
NORTHERN GILA COUNTY-YAVAPAI COUNTY VALLEYS AND BASINS-
OAK CREEK AND SYCAMORE CANYONS-BLACK MESA AREA-
NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264-
1141 AM MST THU JAN 21 2010

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL
ARIZONA...NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA...NORTHEAST ARIZONA AND WEST
CENTRAL ARIZONA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AND TONIGHT

THE FIRST PART OF A HUGE PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY AFFECTING
MUCH OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS MORNING. AREAS OF RAIN AND
SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD EAST AND NORTH THROUGH THE DAY...BUT
THE CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM
WILL BE THE HARDEST HIT.

SNOW LEVELS HAVE STARTED TO RISE AND WILL CONTINUE RISING THROUGH
THE DAY...PEAKING AROUND 7000 FEET ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MOGOLLON
RIM THIS EVENING. SNOW LEVELS WILL QUICKLY FALL TO AROUND 4500
FEET AFTER THE COLD FRONT PASSES AROUND MIDNIGHT TONIGHT.

LARGE AMOUNTS OF RAIN WILL FALL BELOW 6500 FEET THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING...WITH AS MUCH AS 3 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN POSSIBLE IN
THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF YAVAPAI AND NORTHERN GILA COUNTIES.

THIS AMOUNT OF RAIN...ALONG WITH POTENTIAL SNOW MELT FROM THE
HIGHER TERRAIN...WILL LIKELY PRODUCE WIDESPREAD FLOODING.
RESIDENTS LIVING NEAR THE VERDE RIVER...AGUA FRIA RIVER...SANTA
MARIA RIVER...OAK CREEK...TONTO CREEK....CIBECUE CREEK AND ANY
OTHER DRAINAGES SOUTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM SHOULD MONITOR THIS
DEVELOPING SITUATION CLOSELY AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK HIGHER
GROUND.

IN THE MOUNTAINS...HUGE AMOUNTS OF SNOWFALL WILL FALL TODAY DESPITE
RISING SNOW LEVELS. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL TOP OUT AROUND 7000 FEET
AND NO CHANGE TO A WINTERY MIX/RAIN IS EXPECTED ABOVE 7500 FEET.
ELEVATIONS ABOVE 6500 FEET WILL STILL SEE AN ADDITIONAL 3-6 INCHES
DURING THE DAY TODAY DESPITE THE CHANGE TO A WINTERY MIX. AFTER
THE COLD FRONT PASSES TONIGHT HEAVY SNOW WILL RETURN TO NORTHERN
ARIZONA WITH A STORM TOTAL OF 2-4 FEET OF SNOW ABOVE 6500 FEET AND
3-5 FEET ABOVE 7000 FEET.

TO COMPLICATE THIS WEATHER SITUATION WILL BE A PERIOD OF STRONG
WINDS THIS EVENING AS A COLD FRONT MOVES FROM WEST TO EAST. WITH
HEAVY SNOW LOADING ON TREES AND UTILITY POLES ALONG WITH THE HIGH
WINDS...POWER OUTAGES COULD BECOME A PROBLEM. THE COMBINATION OF
THE STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY SNOW WILL BRING NEAR WHITE-OUT CONDITIONS
AND VERY RAPID SNOW ACCUMULATION...MAKING TRAVEL CONDITIONS
EXTRAORDINARILY HAZARDOUS.

A VARIETY OF SNOW WINTER STORM WARNINGS...AND FLOOD WATCHES HAVE
BEEN ISSUED. PLEASE REFER TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF FOR
DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

BEHIND A STRONG COLD FRONT EARLY FRIDAY MORNING...SNOW LEVELS WILL
FALL TO 4500 TO 5000 FEET FRIDAY AFTERNOON. AREAS OF MODERATE TO
HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW WILL CONTINUE...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF
THE RIM. AN ADDITIONAL INCH OF RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE BELOW 5000 FEET
SOUTH OF THE RIM. ADDITIONAL SNOW AMOUNTS WILL RANGE FROM 3 TO 6
INCHES BELOW 6000 FEET...WITH 10 TO 20 INCHES ABOVE 6000 FEET.

CONDITIONS WILL BECOME SHOWERY BY SATURDAY...WITH IMPROVING
CONDITIONS SUNDAY AND MONDAY.

ANOTHER STORM IS POSSIBLE LATE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 21, 4:33 AM MSTWinter Weather AdvisoryFGZCoconino8 hr
Jan 21, 3:30 PM MSTRiver Flood WarningFGZCoconino, Yavapai11 hr

Nearby

Winter Storm Warnings in Arizona, 2010Every winter storm warning in 2010

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.