Heavy Snow in Arizona, March 4 to 5, 2003

Name: Heavy Snow in Arizona, March 4 to 5, 2003
Start: 2003-03-04T20:00
End: 2003-03-05T08:00
Location: Arizona

March 4 to 5, 2003 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

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 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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 4, 5:00 PM MST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 5:00 PM MST, 3 hours before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
500 PM MST TUE MAR 04 2003

.SYNOPSIS...A PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT. THIS
WILL BRING MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN TO MUCH OF NORTHERN
ARIZONA. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST ON WEDNESDAY.
DRIER AND WARMER CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO THE STATE THURSDAY
THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY.

.DISCUSSION...SHOWERS INCREASING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PARTS OF THE
STATE THIS AFTERNOON...OUT AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING TROUGH AND IN A
DIVERGENT AREA OF THE JET. 2-4 INCH SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED
ABOVE 7000 FEET WITH LOCAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 6 INCHES ABOVE
8500 FEET. MODERATE OROGRAPHICS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE
EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM AND WHITE MOUNTAINS...EXPECTING 2-4 INCHES OF
SNOW. TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN AS IT DROP TO THE SOUTHEAST
OVERNIGHT. PRECIP SHOULD LINGER IN THE SOUTHEAST WEDNESDAY
MORNING...THEN DRY NORTHWEST FLOW PUSHES INTO THE NORTHWEST IN THE
MORNING...SPREADING TO THE SOUTHEAST BY AROUND 00Z. FLAT RIDGE WITH
DRIER AND WARMER CONDITIONS THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY.
TC/MCCOLLUM
FGZ...NONE.

.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        022/038 018/046 019/051      060 020 000 000 000 000
WINSLOW          029/050 024/056 026/059      030 020 000 000 000 000
PRESCOTT         028/049 027/056 028/061      050 010 000 000 000 000
PAGE             033/050 035/054 037/056      060 000 000 000 000 000
WINDOW ROCK      028/040 019/049 021/052      060 030 000 000 000 000
CANYON DE CHELLY 036/051 027/057 029/060      050 020 000 000 000 000
COTTONWOOD       034/060 033/067 034/072      040 000 000 000 000 000
GRAND CANYON     021/040 017/049 021/054      070 020 000 000 000 000
GREER            021/039 017/047 018/052      060 030 000 000 000 000
HEBER            024/046 020/054 021/059      060 030 000 000 000 000
JACOB LAKE       021/034 017/042 018/047      080 010 000 000 000 000
NAVAJO N.M.      032/038 023/047 025/050      060 020 000 000 000 000
PAYSON           032/053 027/060 028/065      060 040 000 000 000 000
SEDONA           032/056 033/063 034/068      040 000 000 000 000 000
SELIGMAN         021/051 020/058 021/063      060 000 000 000 000 000
SHOW LOW         025/049 026/057 027/062      050 020 000 000 000 000
ST. JOHNS        030/048 022/054 024/057      050 030 000 000 000 000
WUPATKI N.M.     033/052 028/058 030/061      040 000 000 000 000 000

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 4, 7:00 AM MST, 13 hours before

AZZ004>018-037>040-050200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
700 AM MST TUE MAR 4 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN
GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A PACIFIC STORM WILL APPROACH ARIZONA TODAY AND TONIGHT BRINGING
MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN SHOWERS. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF UP
TO A FEW INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED...MAINLY OVER THE MOGOLLON RIM AND
WHITE MOUNTAINS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Grand Canyon Country

When: March 4, 8:00 PM MST to March 5, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Grand Canyon Country forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 35.839, -111.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A Pacific storm system brought heavy snow to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Eleven inches of new snow fell at the South Rim.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arizona in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, March 2003

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5350231.