A strong cold front approaching northern Arizona brought high winds to parts of the Little Colorado River Valley north of the Mogollon Rim.
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 strong cold front approaching northern Arizona brought high winds to parts of the Little Colorado River Valley north of the Mogollon Rim.
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 Apr 8, 4:50 AM MST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 450 AM MST FRI APR 8 2011 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL BRING WINDY CONDITIONS WITH WIDESPREAD RAIN AND SNOW TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE FORECAST ABOVE 5000 FEET ELEVATION...FROM THE KAIBAB PLATEAU SOUTH TO YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS...AND EAST ALONG THE MOGOLLON RIM TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TODAY AND SATURDAY WITH FAIR WEATHER RETURNING FROM SUNDAY ONWARD. && .DISCUSSION...A STRONG SPRING STORM CURRENTLY MOVING SOUTH INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL BRING WIDESPREAD RAIN AND SNOW TO NORTHERN ARIZONA THROUGH SATURDAY. THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER OF THE STORM WILL CHANGE DIRECTION LATER THIS MORNING AND MOVE SLOWLY HEAD EASTWARD ACROSS ARIZONA. DEEP MOISTURE LEVELS AND STRONG DYNAMICS ALONG THE SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT WILL PRODUCE 1 TO 2 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS OUR WESTERN FORECAST ZONES. RAIN AND SNOW WILL SPREAD EASTWARD ON SATURDAY MORNING AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES INTO OUR EASTERN ZONES. AN UNSTABLE AIR MASS AND ABUNDANT MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS OUR WESTERN FORECAST ZONES THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH FROM WEST TO EAST AFTER SUNSET ON SATURDAY. SIGNIFICANT SNOW AMOUNTS ARE FORECAST ABOVE 5000 FEET ELEVATION STARTING LATER THIS EVENING IN OUR WESTERN ZONES...THEN SPREADING SLOWLY EASTWARD ALONG THE MOGOLLON RIM INTO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS FROM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW HAS BEEN ISSUED STARTING LATER TONIGHT ABOVE 5000 FEET FROM THE KAIBAB PLATEAU TO THE YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY HAS ALSO BEEN ISSUED ABOVE 5000 FEET STARTING EARLY SATURDAY MORNING ALONG THE MOGOLLON RIM...NORTHERN GILA COUNTY AND THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. A WIND ADVISORY HAS ALSO BEEN ISSUED FOR MOST OF OUR NORTHERN AND EASTERN FORECAST ZONES. SUNDAY ONWARD...FAIR WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL RETURN FROM SUNDAY ONWARD AS SEVERAL WEAK SHORT WAVE RIDGES AND TROUGHS MOVE ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN THROUGH THE WORK WEEK. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL WARM UP TO NORMAL LEVELS FROM MONDAY ONWARD WITH BREEZY SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS EACH DAY. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 12Z PACKAGE...AREAS RAIN/SNOW ACROSS NW AZ WILL SLOWLY SPREAD EASTWARD OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS...REACHING THE ERN BORDER BY 12Z SATURDAY. SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 15-25 KT WITH GUSTS 40-50 KT WILL ALSO CONTINUE. WIDESPREAD MVFR WITH LOCAL IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS SPREADING EASTWARD. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE AS A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE REGION TODAY THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY. RAIN AND SNOW...MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL DEVELOP ACROSS NORTHWESTERN ARIZONA TODAY AND SLOWLY SPREAD EASTWARD TODAY AND TONIGHT. ACCUMULATING SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED ABOVE 5000 FEET...WITH SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE ABOVE 7000 FEET. SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...THE STORM WILL MOVE EASTWARD ON SUNDAY WITH LINGERING SHOWERS AND WARMER TEMPERATURES. ADDITIONAL WARMING AND DRY WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES FALLING TO 15 TO 20 PERCENT BOTH DAYS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR NORTHERN AND EASTERN ARIZONA ZONES 005-009>014-017-039-040. WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 5000 FEET FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 5 PM MST SATURDAY FOR WESTERN ARIZONA ZONES 004-006>008-015-038. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ABOVE 5000 FEET FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 11 PM MST SATURDAY FOR THE MOGOLLON RIM...NORTHERN GILA COUNTY AND THE WHITE MOUNTAINS...ARIZONA ZONES 016-018. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 5 AM TO 11 PM MST SATURDAY FOR THE WHITE MOUNTAINS ARIZONA ZONE 017. && PUBLIC....................BOHLIN AVIATION/FIRE WX..........DB FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 343 AM MST FRI APR 8 2011 AZZ004>018-037>040-090745- KAIBAB PLATEAU-MARBLE AND GLEN CANYONS-GRAND CANYON COUNTRY- COCONINO PLATEAU-YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS- NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS HWY 264 NORTHWARD-CHINLE VALLEY- CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN COCONINO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY- WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-WHITE MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN GILA COUNTY-YAVAPAI COUNTY VALLEYS AND BASINS- OAK CREEK AND SYCAMORE CANYONS-BLACK MESA AREA- NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264- 343 AM MST FRI APR 8 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL ARIZONA...NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA...NORTHEAST ARIZONA AND WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE TODAY AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING STORM. WINDS SPEEDS FROM 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS FROM 40 TO 55 MPH ARE EXPECTED ACROSS NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA. A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED...SEE PRODUCT NPWFGZ FOR DETAILS. A STRONG SPRING STORM WILL BRING WIDESPREAD VALLEY RAIN AND SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY. WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 5000 FEET OVER NORTHWEST ARIZONA...NORTHERN GILA COUNTY...THE MOGOLLON RIM...AND WHITE MOUNTAIN. PLEASE SEE THE WINTER STORM PRODUCT WSWFGZ FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SATURDAY...SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE WITH SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS FORECAST TO CONTINUE ABOVE 5000 FEET ELEVATION IN NORTHERN GILA COUNTY...ALONG THE MOGOLLON RIM AND IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. SNOW SHOWERS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH FROM WEST TO EAST BY SATURDAY EVENING. WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE BY SUNDAY WITH NO WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. .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.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gusts to 65 MPH were observed at the Leupp School and an ADOT sensor at Two Guns.
The ASOS at the Winslow Airport reported wind gusts to 62 MPH.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, April 2011
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: 310397, 310401.