A strong cold front brought windy to locally very windy conditions to northern Arizona.
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.
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 strong cold front brought windy to locally very windy conditions to northern Arizona.
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 5, 9:35 AM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 935 AM MST THU MAR 05 2009 .SYNOPSIS...A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BRING COLDER CONDITIONS AND THE THREAT OF LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS TO PORTIONS OF THE AREA LATER TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. IN ADDITION...WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE...ESPECIALLY TODAY AND FRIDAY. && .DISCUSSION...A WINDY PATTERN WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION THROUGH SATURDAY AS A COLD TROUGH SETTLES INTO THE SOUTHWEST. THIS TROUGH WILL BE MAINLY DRY...BUT THERE ARE A FEW THINGS THAT COULD BRING US SPOTTY LIGHT PRECIPITATION. THE FIRST FEATURE IS A SUB-TROPICAL JET STREAM THAT MAY SATURATE ENOUGH TO BRING SOME SHOWERS TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS LATER TONIGHT. THE SECOND FEATURE IS A COLD LOW OVER THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST THAT MAY WILL EJECT AND MAY BRING SOME SNOW SHOWER TO THE KAIBAB FRIDAY. THE THIRD FEATURE...WHICH IS THE MAIN TROUGH...WILL DROP THROUGH THE GREAT BASIN FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY....BRUSHING NORTHERN ARIZONA WITH ANOTHER CHANCE OF LIGHT AND SPOTTY SHOWERS. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THERE IS REALLY NO CHANCE OF SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION THROUGH THIS PERIOD. THE MAIN WEATHER STORY WILL BE WINDS AND COLDER TEMPERATURES. CURRENT WIND ADVISORY FOR THE EASTERN ZONES LOOKS GOOD...OTHER ZONES NOT IN THE ADVISORY WILL BE CLOSE AS WELL...BUT SHOULD FALL 5-10 MPH SHORT OF CRITERIA. NO UPDATES PLANNED THIS MORNING. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 18Z PACKAGE...A STORM SYSTEM LOCATED TO THE WEST OF AZ WILL PRODUCE STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS THROUGH ABOUT 02Z. GUSTS FROM 25-30 KT WILL BE COMMON...WITH 35-40 KT GUSTS OVER EASTERN ARIZONA. MID LEVEL CLOUDS WILL INCREASE OVER EAST-CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH A FEW SPRINKLES POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT. A DISTURBANCE WILL ALSO MOVE THROUGH FAR NORTHERN AZ...BRINGING A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS TO THE HIGH ELEVATION AREAS NORTH OF KFLG. SNOW LEVELS OF AROUND 7500 FEET ARE EXPECTED AT 00Z...LOWERING TO 5-6 KFT BY 18Z. MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES ARE POSSIBLE IN SNOW SHOWERS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM UNTIL 6 PM MST TODAY FOR AZ ZONES 011-013-014-017-040. && PUBLIC..................PETERSON AVIATION/FIRE WEATHER...DJO VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 422 AM MST THU MAR 5 2009 AZZ011-013-014-017-040-060700- CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY-WHITE MOUNTAINS- NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264- 422 AM MST THU MAR 5 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A LARGE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC WILL RESULT IN A TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA TODAY. STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS FROM 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH ARE FORECAST ACROSS THE WHITE MOUNTAINS NORTH TO THE CHUSKA MOUNTAINS DURING THE MORNING THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. AS A RESULT...A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR TODAY...EFFECTIVE FROM 9 AM TO 6 PM MST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS ARE ANTICIPATED THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. STRONG WINDS REQUIRING A WIND ADVISORY MAY BE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AS AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVES ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The ASOS at the St Johns Airport reported wind gusts to 58 MPH.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, March 2009
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: 156945.