Name: Winter Storm in Arizona, January 15 to 16, 2001
Start: 2001-01-15T03:50
End: 2001-01-16T15:45
Location: Arizona

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS TWC wrote it up.

This storm system developed over western Montana and dropped down from Utah into northern Arizona by the 15th. A broken precipitation band developed over northwest Arizona on the evening of the 15th and expanded into southern Arizona. Most of the precipitation fell as snow with snow levels as low as 2700 feet. Large height falls occurred as the 1000-500 hPa thicknesses dropped to 5370 meters. On the 16th, snow levels fluctuated between 2500 and 4000 feet during the day. Showers and thunderstorms redeveloped as the cold core passed over southern Arizona.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 15, 2:35 AM MST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 15, 2:35 AM MST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECT FOR DATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
235 AM MST MON JAN 15 2001

SYNOPSIS...THE COLDEST STORM TO VISIT THE AREA IN SEVERAL YEARS
WILL DROP INTO ARIZONA BY TUESDAY MORNING BEFORE STALLING.
MOISTURE WITH THIS SYSTEM STILL LOOKS LIMITED...BUT WITH SUCH COLD
TEMPERATURES ALOFT...IT WILL BECOME UNSETTLED WITH SNOW LEVELS
REACHING DESERT FLOORS AT TIMES. TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO BE AS MUCH
AS 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. A MODERATING TREND WILL BEGIN NEXT
WEEKEND.

DISCUSSION...LATEST MODELS WERE STILL ADVERTISING A COLD STORM
SYSTEM SETTLING OVER ARIZONA BY TUESDAY MORNING AND HANGING AROUND
UNTIL LATE THURSDAY. THERE STILL DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE A LOT OF
MOISTURE WITH THIS SYSTEM...BUT WITH STRONG UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION
AND COLD AIR ALOFT IT SHOULD NOT TAKE TOO MUCH TO SQUEEZE OUT SOME
PRECIP. RIGHT NOW...QPF AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE TOO LIGHT TO
WARRANT ANY TYPE OF ADVISORY OR WARNING. THUS...WILL HIGHLIGHT THE
UPCOMING UNSETTLED WEATHER IN A SPECIAL STATEMENT. OTHERWISE...
TIMING OF PRECIP WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT WITH THIS TYPE OF SYSTEM
WHICH IS FORECAST TO POSITION ITSELF OVER THE REGION UNTIL LATE
THURSDAY. LATEST MODELS DO POINT TO TONIGHT BEING THE BEST CHANCE
FOR A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW. THIS TIMING OF PRECIP WILL LIKELY
COINCIDE WITH VERY LOW SNOW LEVELS...DOWN TO AROUND 2000 TO 2500
FEET TONIGHT/TUESDAY MORNING. AFTER TONIGHT...THE CURRENT BROAD
BRUSHING OF THE FORECAST LOOKS LIKE THE WAY TO GO. WILL LIKELY BE
ABLE TO PROVIDE BETTER PRECIP TIMING LATER ON. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS
STILL HAVE THE SYSTEM EXITING THE REGION AROUND LATE THURSDAY WITH
A MODERATING TREND FRIDAY INTO SUNDAY.

.TWC...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 15, 3:46 AM MST, 4 minutes before

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Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Cochise County

When: January 15, 3:50 AM MST to January 16, 3:45 PM MST
Where: Cochise County forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Texas Canyon reported 3 inches of snow.

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, January 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5228029.