A bitterly cold and blustery storm system brought heavy snow and the coldest temperatures of the season to northern Arizona.
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 bitterly cold and blustery storm system brought heavy snow and the coldest temperatures of the season 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 Dec 22, 4:50 AM MST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 450 AM MST THU DEC 22 2011 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG AND BITTERLY COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BRING GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS...AND AREAS OF SNOW TO MUCH OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARIZONA TODAY THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY. EXPECT ANY CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO END BY FRIDAY NIGHT...WITH WARMING TEMPERATURES OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...A COLD UPPER LOW OVER SOUTHEAST UTAH WILL RETROGRADE SLIGHTLY TODAY AS A STRONG S/WV MOVES DOWN THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE LOW THROUGH CALIFORNIA. THE LOW WILL ELONGATE...AND THEN REFORM OVER CENTRAL ARIZONA TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY. THIS IS A COMPLICATED PROCESS AND DETAILS WILL HAVE TREMENDOUS IMPACT ON OUR SURFACE WEATHER. WE FEEL THAT DUE TO ALL MODELS TRENDING WESTWARD WITH EACH RUN...THAT THE 06Z NAM12 IS FAIRLY CLOSE TO REALITY...ALTHOUGH THE QPF IS LIKELY OVERDONE. THERE ARE THREE IMPORTANT FEATURES TO WATCH AS THEY DEVELOP TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE FIRST FEATURE IS THE FRONT...WHICH NOW STRETCHES FROM SOUTH OF KIGM THROUGH KFLG AND OUT TO KRQE. THE NEW ENERGY IN THE LOW WILL CAUSE THIS FRONT TO STALL SLIGHTLY TODAY...AND THEN START TO MOVE INTO A SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST ORIENTATION THIS AFTERNOON. WHERE THIS OCCURS IS KEY TO QPF...AS LOCATIONS UNDER THIS STALLED FRONT WILL BEGIN O SEE MODERATE PRECIPITATION. OUR BEST GUESS IS THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN SOUTH OF FLAGSTAFF...AND INTO THE EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM. BY LATER TODAY...THE COLD POOL WILL ARRIVE AND WILL HELP ENHANCE ANY SHOWER ACTIVITY. WHERE THE COLD POOL INTERACTS WITH THE FRONTAL BAND AND DEEPER MOISTURE WILL BE MOST PROLIFIC. AGAIN...WE THINK THE BULK OF THIS WILL BE OVER CENTRAL AND EAST-CENTRAL ARIZONA. AS WE HEAD INTO THURSDAY NIGHT...STRONG EASTERLY FLOW WILL DEVELOP AS THIS LOW BRIEFLY REDEVELOPS INTO A COMPACT CLOSED LOW BETWEEN PHOENIX AND TUCSON. THIS WILL ALLOW A SIGNIFICANT EASTERLY UPSLOPE EVENT TO DEVELOP IN THE LCR AND TOWARD EAST FLAGSTAFF. THIS EVENT WILL LAST INTO FRIDAY. CLOSER TO THE LOW ITSELF...INSTABILITY SHOWERS WILL ALSO CONTINUE OVER EAST-CENTRAL ARIZONA THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THIS WILL MAKE FOR A MESSY 24-36 HOURS...WITH LIGHT TO MODERATE QPF AMOUNTS...BUT VERY HIGH SNOW TO WATER RATIOS AS SNOW LEVELS DROP TO THE VALLEY FLOORS. WE HAVE ISSUED SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORIES FOR A SWATH OF CENTRAL ARIZONA...FROM FLAGSTAFF EASTWARD ALONG THE RIM...THROUGH THE LCR...AND UP TO WINDOW ROCK. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW...WE EXPECT NEAR RECORD COLD FOR A DAY OR TWO...WITH BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILLS...AND STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS GUSTING TO NEAR 50 MPH IN FAVORED LOCATIONS. THIS WILL ALL END BY THE WEEKEND...WITH LONG-WAVE RIDGING LIKELY DEVELOPING OVER THE WESTERN UNITED STATES INTO NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION....FOR THE 12Z PACKAGE...A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE MOVING SOUTHWARD THROUGH NORTHERN AZ TODAY. AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT...AREAS OF MVFR CIGS WILL PERSIST ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM AND WHITE MOUNTAINS. ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...EXPECT AREAS OF MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS IN SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE MOST NUMEROUS FROM AROUND KPAN-KFLG-KRQE EASTWARD. SFC WINDS WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS BECOMING NORTHEAST 10-20 KTS...LOCALLY NE 30G40KT ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON TO NOON MST FRIDAY FOR AZZ011>015. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM NOON MST TODAY TO NOON MST FRIDAY FOR AZZ016-017. && PUBLIC...............PETERSON AVIATION.............ONTON FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 525 AM MST THU DEC 22 2011 AZZ004>018-037>040-230700- 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- 525 AM MST THU DEC 22 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A DEVELOPING STORM OVER SOUTHERN UTAH WILL BRING INCREASING SNOW SHOWERS TO THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF ARIZONA TODAY. SNOW SHOWERS WILL BECOME FREQUENT AND WIDESPREAD FROM FLAGSTAFF SOUTHEAST AND EASTWARD. SEVERAL INCHES OF ACCUMULATION WILL BE LIKELY OVER THE EASTERN RIM AND WHITE MOUNTAINS BY THE LATE AFTERNOON. BY TONIGHT...GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA...ALONG WITH BITTER COLD WIND CHILL VALUES...RANGING FROM THE LOW TEENS ABOVE ZERO...TO AROUND 5 BELOW ZERO. SNOWFALL WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES...AND WILL MOVE BACK NORTH AND EAST INTO THE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY...AND BACK TOWARD FLAGSTAFF. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF HAS ISSUED A VARIETY OF SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORIES THAT TAKE EFFECT LATER TODAY...AND WILL LAST INTO FRIDAY. PLEASE SEE PHXWSWFGZ FOR DETAILS. STAY TUNED TO YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET...OR VISIT: WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF FOR FURTHER DETAILS AND UPDATES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AREAS OF SNOW...ALONG WITH BITTER COLD AND STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS WILL CONTINUE OVER EAST-CENTRAL ARIZONA. SKIES WILL CLEAR FROM WEST TO EAST ELSEWHERE. EXPECT IMPROVING CONDITIONS OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. .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.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Eight inches of snow fell in Alpine and 6 to 8 inches of snow fell in Show Low.
Seven to eleven inches of snow fell in Heber-Overgaard.
Eight inches of snow fell in Veron. Six inches of snow fell in Springerville.
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, December 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: 359382, 359383, 359788.