A cold winter storm followed closely on the heals of the December 1-2, 2011 storm. The second storm had lower snow levels with not as much snow as the first storm at the higher elevations.
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 cold winter storm followed closely on the heals of the December 1-2, 2011 storm. The second storm had lower snow levels with not as much snow as the first storm at the higher elevations.
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 2, 9:00 PM MST, 3 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 900 PM MST FRI DEC 2 2011 .SYNOPSIS...A SLOW MOVING WINTER STORM WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE SNOW AND LOW ELEVATION RAIN SHOWERS ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT. A SECOND AND EVEN COLDER STORM IS EXPECTED ON SATURDAY AND EARLY SUNDAY WITH ADDITIONAL SNOW AND LOW ELEVATION RAIN...WITH THE GREATEST AMOUNTS ACROSS YAVAPAI AND COCONINO COUNTIES. A THIRD SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE FOR MONDAY BRINGING CONTINUED COLD TEMPERATURES AND ANOTHER CHANCE OF SNOW. && .DISCUSSION...THE LOW CONTINUES TO SLOWLY MOVE EASTWARD AND IS BEGINNING TO WEAKEN AS A SECOND LOW APPROACHES FROM THE NORTH THIS EVENING. RADAR INDICATES THAT SHOWERS HAVE DIMINISHED ACROSS THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF AZ THIS EVENING BUT SOME SHOWERS WILL LIKELY PERSIST THROUGH MUCH OF THE NIGHT. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE GENERALLY LIGHT WITH A FEW LOCATIONS POTENTIALLY GETTING ANOTHER INCH OR TWO. FARTHER WEST...SHOWERS HAVE ENDED THIS EVENING AND PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WERE NOTED IN SOME LOCATIONS. THE WINTER STORM WARNING AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES FOR THE EASTERN ZONES FOR THIS EVENING HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES FOR THE WESTERN ZONES FOR SATURDAY REMAIN IN EFFECT. && .PREV DISCUSSION (400 PM)...THE SECOND LOW MOVING ACROSS IDAHO THIS AFTN DROPS QUICKLY SOUTH BY SATURDAY MORNING...INCREASING THE CHANCES OF SNOW FOR SATURDAY. THE BEST CHANCE OF SIGNIFICANT SNOW FOR SATURDAY IS FROM THE MOGOLLON RIM AND KAIBAB PLATEAU SOUTHWARD... INCLUDING YAVAPAI COUNTY WHERE SYNOPTIC LIFT IS GREATEST. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FROM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH LATE AFTN OR EVENING...FOR A GENERAL 3 TO 6 INCH SNOWFALL ABOVE 5000 FEET...AND AN INCH OR TWO DOWN TO 4000 FEET. THIS SYSTEM APPEARS TO BE ON A SIMILAR TRACK TO THE CURRENT ONE...MAYBE JUST A BIT FARTHER WEST. THE LONGWAVE TROUGH REMAINS THROUGH NORTHERN ARIZONA SUNDAY INTO TUESDAY. LIGHT SHOWERY PRECIP IS EXPECTED TO END FROM WEST TO EAST ON SUNDAY. BY LATE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...YET ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IS FORECAST TO MOVE SOUTHWARD INTO OUR STATE. THIS FINAL WAVE IS CURRENTLY FORECAST TO TAKE A TRACK SLIGHTLY FARTHER EAST THAN THE FIRST TWO...WITH THE BEST CHANCE FOR MOSTLY LIGHT SNOW FROM FLAGSTAFF EASTWARD. VERY COLD TEMPERATURES WILL ACCOMPANY THIS SYSTEM...WITH MOUNTAIN HIGH TEMPS IN THE 20S...AND SNOW LEVELS TO 3000 FEET. FAIR WEATHER SHOULD FINALLY RETURN FOR TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY OF NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 06Z PACKAGE...AREAS OF MVFR CIGS WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS PRODUCING BRIEF IFR CONDITIONS. ALSO...AREAS OF FOG WILL LIKELY RESULT IN IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE LITTLE CO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE AND NAVAJO COUNTIES. A SECOND COLDER STORM WILL DROP DOWN FROM THE NORTH AFTER 10Z BRINGING ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW SHOWERS TO NORTHERN AZ THROUGH SATURDAY. EXPECT CONTINUED WIDESPREAD MVFR WITH PERIODS IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS IN HEAVY SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVELS WILL FALL AS LOW AS 4000 FEET BY SATURDAY MORNING. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY 3 AM UNTIL 5 PM MST SATURDAY FOR AZZ004-006. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY 8 AM UNTIL 7 PM MST SATURDAY FOR AZZ007-008-015-037-038. && PUBLIC...............DB/JJ AVIATION.............MCS FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 347 PM MST FRI DEC 2 2011 AZZ004>018-037>040-030700- 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- 347 PM MST FRI DEC 2 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO... NAVAJO...NORTHERN GILA AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT IN EASTERN ARIZONA...HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING WHERE WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM MST. IN WESTERN ARIZONA...SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT WITH GENERALLY LIGHT AMOUNTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY ON SATURDAY...A SECOND COLDER STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTHERN ARIZONA EARLY SATURDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO COME DOWN AS LOW AS 4000 FEET. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE LOWER MAINLY DUE TO THE SPEED OF THE SYSTEM WITH 2 TO 7 INCHES POSSIBLE. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR MANY OF OUR WESTERN ZONES ABOVE 4000 FEET. BY SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...A THIRD STORM WILL QUICKLY MOVE THROUGH THE STATE WITH ONLY LIGHT SNOWFALL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS GENERALLY LESS THAN 2 INCHES EXPECTED. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN AROUND 10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS THROUGH MONDAY. .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 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Eleven inches of snow fell in Forest Lakes.
Ten inches of snow fell in Munds Park, 6.6 inches in Flagstaff, 6.1 inches in Kachina Village, 5.9 inches in Mormon Lake, and 5.8 inches in Bellmeont. Interstate 40 was closed for about 4 hours due to a string of traffic accidents on the icy and slick road. Interstate 17 south of Flagstaff was close for about two hours because of other traffic accidents.
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: 358767, 358771.