A winter storm brought widespread snowfall to northern Arizona during the late afternoon and overnight. Most locations received only a few inches of new snow and some locations received considerably heavier amounts.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 brought widespread snowfall to northern Arizona during the late afternoon and overnight. Most locations received only a few inches of new snow and some locations received considerably heavier amounts. Some of the new snowfall amounts were: Flagstaff 12 inches, Springerville 8 inches, Greer 13 inches, and Pinetop 8 inches. Sunrise Ski Park in the White Mountains reported between 26 and 36 inches of new snow above 9000 feet in 24 hours. Department of Public Safety responded to 27 wrecks in the Flagstaff area. Ten of those involved minor injuries. A Coconino County Sheriff's deputy rolled his patrol car twice and received minor injuries. Flagstaff City Police responded to an injury collision and two non-injury collisions.
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, 9:20 AM MST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 920 AM MST THU MAR 04 2004 .SYNOPSIS...EXPECT RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS TODAY AND TONIGHT AS LOW PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE STATE. RAIN AND SNOW WILL BE MOST COMMON ALONG THE MOGOLLON RIM AND OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. COOL AND BREEZY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY...BEFORE STRONG HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE SOUTHWEST OVER THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL BRING DRY WEATHER AND A STRONG WARMING TREND TO THE STATE INTO NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...UPPER LOW NOW CENTERED SOUTHEAST OF THE STATE...AND IS MOVING QUICKLY NORTHEAST AS AN UPSTREAM KICKER APPROACHES. DEFORMATION AXIS ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF THE LOW HAS BEEN QUITE ACTIVE OVER THE PAST 12 HOURS...WITH DECENT AMOUNTS OF RAIN OVER SOUTHEAST AZ AND AROUND 4 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. THIS DEFORMATION AXIS WEAKENS AS THE LOW MOVES AWAY FROM THE STATE TODAY. HOWEVER...DYNAMICS AND INSTABILITY INCREASE LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT ESPECIALLY OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS IN ASSOCIATION WITH NEXT SHORTWAVE AND COLD FRONT. THE MOISTURE FROM THE UPPER LOW WILL REMAIN OVER THE SOUTHEAST CWA FOR THIS EVENINGS SHORTWAVE TO ACT UPON. MODELS GENERATE LARGE AMOUNTS OF QPF OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS LATER TODAY AND OVERNIGHT. THIS APPEARS OVERDONE...BUT SHOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW THERE. LOW LEVEL WINDS INCREASE AS THE WAVE APPROACHES AND WEST FACING SLOPES WILL SEE HIGHER SNOW AMOUNTS. WILL UPDATE THE WHITE MOUNTAIN ZONE TO INCREASE SNOW AMOUNTS THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...BUT WILL KEEP UNDER ADVISORY CRITERIA FOR NOW. ELSEWHERE...EXPECTING A ROUND OF SHOWERS...MAINLY EAST OF A PRESCOTT TO PAGE LINE. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE NEAR 6000 FEET TODAY...FALLING TO NEAR 4500 FEET BY FRIDAY MORNING. DRIER AND MUCH WARMER WEATHER STILL ON TRACK FOR THE WEEKEND AND NEXT WEEK. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && JOHNDROW.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 700 AM MST THU MAR 4 2004 AZZ004>018-037>040-050200- WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-GRAND CANYON COUNTRY-YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS- YAVAPAI COUNTY VALLEYS AND BASINS-OAK CREEK AND SYCAMORE CANYONS- MARBLE AND GLEN CANYONS-KAIBAB PLATEAU-COCONINO PLATEAU- NORTHEAST PLATEAU AND MESAS HWY 264 NORTHWARD- NORTHEAST PLATEAU AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264- CHINLE VALLEY-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU- BLACK MESA AREA-LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN COCONINO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY- EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-WHITE MOUNTAINS-NORTHERN GILA COUNTY- 700 AM MST THU MAR 4 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS REMAINS ACROSS ARIZONA FROM THE MOGOLLON RIM SOUTH AND EAST. FREQUENT SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TODAY...ESPECIALLY SOUTHEAST OF FLAGSTAFF. LOCALLY HEAVY SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION. LOCALIZED ACCUMULATING SNOWS ARE POSSIBLE FROM FLAGSTAFF SOUTHEAST TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, March 2004
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: 5389883, 5389884, 5389885.