A strong cold front brought high winds to the White Mountains of 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 high winds to the White Mountains of 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 Apr 1, 9:35 AM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 935 AM MST SUN APR 01 2012 .SYNOPSIS...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA TODAY...BRINGING WINDY AND MUCH COOLER WEATHER...WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. THE BEST CHANCE FOR ANY SHOWERS WILL BE OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF FLAGSTAFF. COOL NORTHEAST WINDS WILL DEVELOP ON MONDAY...THEN DRY AND WARM WEATHER WILL RETURN BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...A VIGOROUS...YET MAINLY DRY S/WV TROUGH IS CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN ARIZONA. THE COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM IS NOW ENTERING THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF OUR CWA...WITH STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS OUT AHEAD OF THE FRONT. WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL SWITCH TO THE WEST AND DIMINISH THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. AREAS FARTHER EAST WILL OBVIOUSLY HOLD OUT THE LONGEST AS THE FRONT DOES NOT REACH THE NEW MEXICO BORDER UNTIL LATE TODAY. CURRENT WIND ADVISORIES LOOK GOOD. POPS WILL MAINLY BE LIMITED TO THE FAR NORTHERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE...AND EVEN THAT LOOKS QUESTIONABLE AS OF NOW...CLOUD TOPS IN THE FRONTAL BAND ARE BARELY REACHING -12C. A FEW GRAUPEL SHOWERS COLD DEVELOP AS FAR SOUTH AS FLAGSTAFF AS THE FRONT PROGRESSES...BUT THE KAIBAB WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCES. THE LOW WILL LINGER THROUGH MONDAY OUT EAST WITH A FEW SHOWERS CONTINUING...COLDER AIR WILL AFFECT MUCH OF THE REGION THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. RIDGING RETURNS TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY WITH DRY AND WARMER WEATHER. FORECAST MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW A LONG WAVE TROUGH DEVELOPING ACROSS THE WEST MID TO LATE WEEK NEXT WEEK. THIS LOOKS TO BRING A GENERALLY DRY AND BREEZY WEATHER PATTERN WITH TEMPS FALLING CLOSER TO NORMAL FOR EARLY APRIL. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 18Z PACKAGE...A COLD FRONT MOVING WEST TO EAST ACROSS AZ TODAY WILL BRING INCREASING CLOUD COVER...GUSTY WINDS...AND A CHANCE FOR RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATIONS SNOW SHOWERS. SCATTERED MVFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED FROM KFLG NORTH TO THE UT BORDER WITH PRIMARILY VFR CONDITIONS ELSEWHERE. STRONG SW WINDS 20-25 KTS WITH GUSTS 35-40 KTS EXPECTED THROUGH 02Z EAST OF A KPGA-KFLG LINE. ELSEWHERE...W TO SW WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 30 KTS. AVIATION DISCUSSION IS NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM UNTIL 7 PM MST TODAY FOR AZZ009>014-016-017-039-040. WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM UNTIL 4 PM MST TODAY FOR AZZ015. && PUBLIC.........PETERSON AVIATION.......MCS FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 309 AM MST SUN APR 1 2012 AZZ009>017-039-040-020200- 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- BLACK MESA AREA-NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264- 309 AM MST SUN APR 1 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA...NORTHEAST ARIZONA AND WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE STATE TODAY...WITH STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EAST CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ARIZONA INTO EARLY THIS EVENING WHERE GUSTS NEAR 45 MPH ARE LIKELY. BLOWING DUST MAY ALSO DEVELOP ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40 IN NORTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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 Show Low Airport recorded a peak wind gust of 58 MPH at 2:15 PM. The sustained wind also exceeded 40 MPH several times between 12:55 PM and 3:40 PM.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, April 2012
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: 375357.