A winter storm moved across northern Arizona leaving a blanket of snow and dangerous road conditions. In an eighteen hour time period, the Department of Public Safety reported more than 15 slide offs and 15 accidents.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS FGZ wrote it up.
A winter storm moved across northern Arizona leaving a blanket of snow and dangerous road conditions. In an eighteen hour time period, the Department of Public Safety reported more than 15 slide offs and 15 accidents. Seven collisions involving 11 vehicles occurred just before 7:00 AM on I-17 near Twin Arrows. One person died and several others were injured in that pile-up. Flagstaff Police reported at least 8 accidents in town. New snowfall totals included: Happy Jack 8.5 inches, Kachina Village 7 inches, and Flagstaff Airport 6 inches.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 17, 9:15 PM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
915 PM MST TUE DEC 17 2002
.SYNOPSIS...ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE STATE FROM THE
WEST LATER TONIGHT. THIS WILL BRING A GOOD CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW
SHOWERS TO ALL OF NORTHERN ARIZONA TOMORROW. AFTER A BREAK IN THE
WEATHER ON THURSDAY...A STRONGER PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE
ACROSS THE STATE FRIDAY WITH THE WEATHER LINGERING INTO SATURDAY.
.DISCUSSION...RADAR INDICATING WIDELY SCATTERED ACTIVITY STILL
OCCURRING ACROSS THE CWA THIS EVENING. PRECIP AMOUNTS APPEAR ARE
VERY LIGHT. ANOTHER FAST MOVING S/WV TROF PROGGED TO DROP INTO THE
STATE LATER TONIGHT AND SWING ACROSS THE REGION TOMORROW. LIFT AS
INDICATED BY DIV-Q AND OMEGA PROGS IS WEAK. HOWEVER...LAPSE RATES
ARE FAIRLY UNSTABLE AND WILL CONTRIBUTE TO PRECIP PRODUCTION. THE
LOWER AND MID LEVELS STILL VERY MOIST BUT QPF AS INDICATED BY MODELS
IS ON THE LIGHT SIDE. BEST OROGRAPHIC AFFECTS SEEN OVER THE SOUTHERN
SECTIONS OF THE CWA AND EXPECT THE HIGHEST SNOWFALL RATES THERE. A
BREAK SEEN IN THE WEATHER FOR THURSDAY AS TRANSITORY RIDGE AND A
DRIER AIR MASS MOVES OVER THE STATE. ZONES PACKAGE HANDLES THESE
TRENDS WELL...NO UPDATES NEEDED. DF.
.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA
CITY TEMPERATURES LO/HI PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
TON WED THU FRI TON WED THU FRI
FLAGSTAFF 021/029 012/033 012/035 070 050 010 000 000 030
WINSLOW 027/039 018/040 019/040 050 040 010 000 000 020
PRESCOTT 027/039 017/042 017/043 060 030 000 000 000 030
PAGE 033/039 026/038 024/038 040 050 000 000 000 030
WINDOW ROCK 026/030 010/033 008/034 060 070 000 000 000 020
CANYON DE CHELLY 032/029 016/032 014/033 040 050 000 000 000 010
COTTONWOOD 032/046 022/049 022/050 050 020 000 000 000 020
GRAND CANYON 023/033 014/037 014/039 060 040 010 000 000 030
GREER 021/030 012/034 012/036 060 050 010 000 000 020
HEBER 022/035 013/039 013/041 050 040 010 000 000 020
JACOB LAKE 022/026 013/030 013/032 060 040 010 000 000 030
NAVAJO N.M. 032/025 016/028 014/029 060 070 000 000 000 020
PAYSON 026/042 016/045 016/046 070 060 000 000 000 040
SEDONA 034/044 024/047 024/048 060 030 000 000 000 030
SELIGMAN 021/040 011/043 011/044 050 020 000 000 000 020
SHOW LOW 027/032 018/036 018/038 060 050 010 000 000 020
ST. JOHNS 025/040 016/041 017/041 050 040 010 000 000 020
WUPATKI N.M. 031/040 022/041 023/041 040 030 010 000 000 020AZZ004>018-037>040-180200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 700 AM MST TUE DEC 17 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY A SNOW ADVISORY WILL BE IN EFFECT TODAY FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 6000 FEET FOR THE MOGOLLON RIM AND WHITE MOUNTAINS. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ABOVE THE 6000 FOOT LEVEL TODAY. IN ADDITION...GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL DRIVE WIND CHILL VALUES INTO THE TEENS AND CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. SEE THE SNOW ADVISORY OR WSWFGZ FOR MORE INFORMATION. TRAVELERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY WIDESPREAD SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY BUT WITH NO SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATION. UNSETTLED WEATHER WITH PERIODS OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS WILL RETURN FOR FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS. DEFINITION OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER...A WEATHER EVENT POSING A THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Storm, Western Mogollon Rim | 2002-12-18 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, December 2002
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5327116, 5327117.