A powerful winter storm moved across Arizona with strong winds ahead of the cold front, heavy rain and snow along and behind the cold front, and then heavy rain and snow showers as the cold pool aloft move across the state with the low center. Up to four and half feet of snow fell in the Kachina Peaks north of Flagstaff.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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 powerful winter storm moved across Arizona with strong winds ahead of the cold front, heavy rain and snow along and behind the cold front, and then heavy rain and snow showers as the cold pool aloft move across the state with the low center. Up to four and half feet of snow fell in the Kachina Peaks north of Flagstaff.
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 17, 5:30 AM MST, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 530 AM MST SAT MAR 17 2012 ...ADD RED FLAG WARNING TAG LINE.... .SYNOPSIS...AN APPROACHING STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING STRONG AND GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS TO MUCH OF THE AREA TODAY. BY TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...THE STRONGEST STORM OF THIS WINTER SEASON WILL MOVE ACROSS ARIZONA. EXPECT WIDESPREAD RAIN...SNOW AND MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES THROUGH MONDAY. HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS ARE LIKELY IN THE MOUNTAINS. FAIR AND WARMER WEATHER WILL RETURN BY MIDWEEK. && .DISCUSSION...NUMEROUS WIND AND WINTER PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN TWEAKED AND REFRESHED THIS MORNING. AN IMPRESSIVE TROUGH CONTINUES TO DIG SOUTHWARD TOWARD SAN DIEGO. WE ARE EVENTUALLY EXPECTING MODERATE TO HEAVY PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONTAL BAND...WITH CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION CONTINUE AFTER THAT. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL REACH WELL INTO ADVISORY CRITERIA TODAY. THESE WINDS ARE LIKELY TO CONTINUE OVERNIGHT...ESPECIALLY EAST OF FLAGSTAFF. A COMBINATION OF WIND ADVISORIES AND WINTER STORM WARNINGS WILL COVER THIS SCENARIO. AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW WILL THEN DEVELOP WITH THE FRONT OVER WESTERN ARIZONA BY SATURDAY EVENING...PUSHING ACROSS THE STATE BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER FROM ABOVE 7000 FEET TO BELOW 4000 FEET DURING THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. THE COLD FRONT ITSELF WILL PRODUCE THE MOST INTENSE SNOWFALL...WITH WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AND SEVERAL INCHES PER HOUR SNOWFALL RATES AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. AFTER A BRIEF LULL BEHIND THE FRONT...WE EXPECT CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION TO DEVELOP SUNDAY AFTERNOON OVER THE WEST AND CENTRAL...AS FRONTAL PRECIPITATION CONTINUES OUT EAST. ALL AREAS WILL TURN TO CONVECTIVE-TYPE PRECIPITATION BY SUNDAY NIGHT...THIS WILL CONTINUE INTO MONDAY...ALTHOUGH AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHTER. THE BEST AREAS FOR HEAVY SNOW WILL BE ALONG AND JUST SOUTH OF THE RIM. PRONOUNCED RAIN-SHADOWING WILL AFFECT THE LCR AND OTHER AREAS NORTH OF THE RIM...AND WINTER WEATHER PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN DROPPED FOR THESE REGIONS. FAIR WEATHER AND NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED BY MID-WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER ARIZONA. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 12Z PACKAGE...A POWERFUL WINTER STORM WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN ARIZONA TONIGHT. TIL 00Z SUN...MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS WITH INCREASING HIGH CLOUDS WITH BASES AT AND ABOVE 20000 FT MSL. HIGHER TERRAIN SHOULD SEE SCT-BKN 3500-5000 FT AGL CLOUD BASES AFT 22Z. ALL AREAS...SFC WINDS SOUTH-SOUTHWEST INCREASING TO 20-30 KT WITH GUSTS 40 TO 50 KT WITH FASTEST SPEEDS AND GUSTS ALONG AND NORTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM. THESE WINDS MAY PRODUCE 3-5SM VSBYS IN BLDU ACROSS NORTHEAST ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON. AT 00Z SUN...THE COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO BE ALONG A LINE FROM KSGU-YUMA...AT 06Z SUN ALONG A LINE FROM KPGA-KPAN. WIDESPREAD IFR AND LOWER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONT IN +SN AND OR +RA. GUSTY SW WINDS WILL CONTINUE. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR AZZ004>007-009>017-039-040. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 8 PM MST SUNDAY FOR AZZ008-015-016-018. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 6 AM SUNDAY TO 6 AM MST MONDAY FOR AZZ017. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 8 AM MST SUNDAY FOR AZZ004-006-007. RED FLAG WARNING TODAY FROM 11 AM MST TO 7 PM MST FOR AZZ110>114-140. && PUBLIC.........PETERSON AVIATION.......DL FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 605 AM MST SAT MAR 17 2012 AZZ004>018-037>040-180700- 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- 605 AM MST SAT MAR 17 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP TODAY AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT DUE LATER TONIGHT. A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF THE AREA. PLEASE SEE PRODUCT PHXNPWFGZ FOR DETAILS...OR VISIT THE WEBSITE WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST ARIZONA...SEE PRODUCT PHXRFWFGZ FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A STRONG PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT...BRINGING AREAS OF HEAVY SNOW AND LOWER ELEVATION RAIN. THE STEADY PRECIPITATION WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST SUNDAY MORNING...WITH MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS RE-DEVELOPING SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY...BEFORE ENDING MONDAY NIGHT. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED FROM THIS STORM...WITH THE BULK OF THE ACCUMULATIONS FALLING TONIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY. NUMEROUS WINTER STORM WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED. PLEASE SEE PRODUCT PHXWSWFGZ FOR DETAILS...OR VISIT THE WEBSITE WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF .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.
7 heavy snow, 2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A spotter in the community of Parks reported a peak wind gust of 61 MPH.
The Mogollon Rim Airpark reported a peak wind gust of 62 MPH around 255 PM and Linden RAWS reported a peak wind gust of 61 MPH around 540 PM.
The Prescott area received 5 to 14 inches of snow depending on elevation. The City of Prescott is at about 5280 feet and the snow level started out above that level and then dropped through the night. Ash Fork received 12 inches of snow.
Sedona received 4 inches of snow at an elevation of about 4500 feet.
Heavy to very heavy snow fell across the Western Mogollon Rim. Areas around Flagstaff picked up 18 to 28 inches of snow. A local ski resort reported an impressive 53 inches of snow above 9000 feet elevation. Northern Arizona University, Coconino Community College, and most other schools cancelled classes in the Flagstaff area. A 200 mile section of Interstate 40 was closed in both directions between Kingman and Winslow. A 42 mile section of northbound (up hill) Interstate 17 was closed from the Sedona exit to Flagstaff. The Coconino County Sheriff's search and rescue unit warned people of the avalanche danger in the San Fransisco Peaks.
Chino Valley (4570 feet elevation) received 4 inches of snow. Wilhoit received 8 inches of snow at around 4500 feet elevation.
A weather spotter two miles north of McNary reported 12.5 inches of snow with this storm. Show Low received 9 inches of new snow.
Eighteen inches of snow fell in Forest Lakes. Seven inches of snow fell 3 miles southeast of Linden and 8.5 inches of snow fell in Heber-Overgaard.
Payson and Pine both received 7 inches of snow.
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, March 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: 374945, 374951, 374967, 374971, 372196, 374969, 372195, 374962, 374963.