Arizona, 2006

Drought in Arizona, February 1 to 28, 2006

February 1 to 28, 2006 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

09" of precipitation measured. No snowfall was recorded at the Flagstaff airport.

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

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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 FGZ wrote it up.

February was as the sixth driest February on record in Flagstaff since 1898 with only 0.09" of precipitation measured. No snowfall was recorded at the Flagstaff airport. The average precipitation for the month is 2.56 inches of precipitation. The average snowfall is 20.8 inches. Flagstaff received only 2.58 inches of precipitation (including melted snow) from September 1st 2005 through February 28th 2006. This is only 21 percent of average precipitation and is least amount of precipitation ever recorded. Average precipitation is 12.48 inches during this period. Last year...23.81 inches of precipitation had occurred during this same period. Dry conditions existed across all of northern Arizona with many locations recording 15 to 40 percent of their normal precipitation for the fall and winter months so far.

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 Jan 31, 8:50 PM MST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 8:50 PM MST, 3 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
850 PM MST TUE JAN 31 2006

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE REGION KEEPING ARIZONA
IN NORTHWEST FLOW THROUGH THURSDAY. THIS WILL ALLOW SOME HIGH CLOUDS
TO MOVE ACROSS FROM TIME TO TIME AND ALLOW AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES TO
AGAIN WARM TO ABOVE NORMAL READINGS. AFTER A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVES
THROUGH FRIDAY WITH SLIGHT COOLING...TEMPERATURES WILL REBOUND
SIGNIFICANTLY FOR THE WEEKEND AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS STRONGLY OVER
THE STATE.

&&

.DISCUSSION...MAINLY CLEAR SKIES ACROSS THE STATE THIS EVENING AS
THE LOW THAT AFFECTED THE AREA EARLIER TODAY HAS PUSHED OFF TO THE
EAST. TO THE NORTHWEST ARE SOME MID TO HIGH-LEVEL CLOUDS THAT WILL
AFFECT THE REGION DURING THE DAY TOMORROW. A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH
PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE SOUTHWEST THROUGH THURSDAY...BRINGING
ANOTHER ROUND OF DRY CONDITIONS TO THE NORTH COUNTRY. EXPECT
AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES TO CLIMB BACK INTO ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS.
CURRENT FORECAST REFLECTS THESE TRENDS...NO CHANGES PLANNED. CK

&&

.AVIATION...FOR THE 06Z PACKAGE...EXPECT VARIABLE HIGH CLOUDS OVER
THE NEXT 24 HOURS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. MCCOLLUM

&&

.FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Western Mogollon Rim

When
February 1, 12:00 AM MST to February 28, 11:59 PM MST
Where
Western Mogollon Rim forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
35.839, -111.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought
A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, February 2006

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: 5491166.