A strong and moist storm system brought heavy rain and higher elevation heavy snow to northern Arizona.
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 and moist storm system brought heavy rain and higher elevation heavy snow 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 Mar 1, 4:30 AM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 430 AM MST SAT MAR 1 2014 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG AND MOIST STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING WIDESPREAD RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW ALONG WITH GUSTY WINDS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ARIZONA TODAY. TEMPERATURES AND SNOW LEVELS WILL GRADUALLY DROP THROUGH THE DAY AS COLDER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE FOR MUCH OF THE NIGHT...ESPECIALLY IN EAST CENTRAL ARIZONA...THEN TAPER OFF SUNDAY. EXPECT DRIER AND WARMER WEATHER FOR THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...A STRONG...MOIST...AND UNSTABLE STORM SYSTEM CONTINUES TO APPROACH NORTHERN ARIZONA THIS MORNING. A WEAK COLD FRONT WITH STRONG UPSLOPE SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW AND HIGH ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE CONTENT IS SITUATED ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA...PRODUCING WIDESPREAD SHOWER ACTIVITY ESPECIALLY ALONG AND SOUTH/WEST OF THE MOGOLLON RIM. A FEW HEAVIER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE TAKEN PLACE OVERNIGHT...WITH RAINFALL AMOUNTS SO FAR GENERALLY AROUND ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF INCH RANGING UP TO AROUND ONE INCH WITH LIGHTER AMOUNTS NORTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM. WITH THE LOW CENTER STILL JUST OFF THE CENTRAL CA COAST...THE STORM IS FAR FROM OVER YET. TODAY...EXPECT COLDER AIR TO PUSH ACROSS NORTHERN AZ...WITH SNOW LEVELS DROPPING FROM 8000-8500 THIS MORNING TO AROUND 6000-6500 FEET BY SUNDAY MORNING. PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS UP TO ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF INCH PER 6 HOURS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM THROUGH EVENING. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE SOMEWHAT LIMITED DUE TO THE INITIALLY HIGH SNOW LEVELS AND QUITE A BIT OF INTERMEDIATE MELTING TODAY AS RELATIVELY WARM AND MOIST CONDITIONS CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAYTIME PERIOD. THE BEST ACCUMULATIONS LOOK TO BE OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAIN PEAKS...AND THE WHITE MOUNTAIN AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT. HAVE ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE WHITE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 7000 FEET WHERE AMOUNTS WILL LIKELY RANGE FROM A FEW INCHES AT 7000 FEET TO 15 TO 25 INCHES ABOVE 9000 FEET ALONG WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS. RAIN IS STILL EXPECTED TO CHANGE OVER TO SNOW IN THE FLAGSTAFF AREA MID MORNING...DURING THE AFTERNOON OR EVENING IN PINETOP AND ALPINE...AND EARLY MORNING IN SHOW LOW AND WINDOW ROCK. THE MAIN LOW...AFTER WEAKENING CONSIDERABLY...IS EXPECTED TO CROSS NORTHERN AZ BY SUNDAY MORNING...WITH SHOWERS TAPERING OFF ONCE IT MOVES PAST. DESPITE THE SIGNIFICANT STORM TOTAL PRECIPITATION EXPECTED...THE OVERALL FLOODING THREAT WITH THIS EVENT IS LOW DUE TO THE DRY SOIL CONDITIONS PRECEDING THE STORM AND THE LONG DURATION OF THE EVENT...THOUGH SOME RISES ALONG AREA CREEKS AND RIVERS ARE EXPECTED BY SATURDAY. A WARMING AND DRYING TREND IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE BUILDS INTO THE REGION. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 12Z PACKAGE...EXPECT AREAS OF MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS IN SHRA/SHSN. STRONG GUSTY SW-W WINDS 15-25G36KT WITH LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS MAINLY EAST OF FLAGSTAFF...WINDS DECREASING SATURDAY EVENING AFTER SUNSET. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 AM MST SUNDAY FOR AZZ017 ABOVE 7000 FEET. && PUBLIC.........DJO AVIATION.......TC FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 541 AM MST SAT MAR 1 2014 AZZ004>018-037>040-021400- 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- 541 AM MST SAT MAR 1 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO... NORTHERN GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW WILL WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE MODERATE TO HEAVY OVER SOME OF THE HIGHEST PEAKS AND A FEW HIGH ELEVATION COMMUNITIES AND PASSES IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE WHITE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 7000 FEET FROM THIS AFTERNOON UNTIL SUNDAY MORNING. PLEASE SEE THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY (PRODUCT PHXWSWFGZ) FOR DETAILS. OTHERWISE...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL GENERALLY BE LIGHT AS MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL FALL AS RAIN OR WET SNOW. HEAVY RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS...LOCALLY OVER 2 INCHES...ARE POSSIBLE...ALTHOUGH THE OVERALL FLOODING THREAT IS LOW DUE TO THE DRY SOIL CONDITIONS PRECEDING THE STORM AND THE LONG DURATION OF THE STORM. NEVERTHELESS...SOME RISES ON AREA STREAMS ARE EXPECTED. ISOLATED STRONG WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE IN THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ADDITIONAL RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED SUNDAY...BUT AMOUNTS WILL TAPER OFF COMPARED WITH SATURDAY. EXPECT LOCALLY SLICK ROADWAYS AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES. PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR THE LATEST UPDATES AT WWW.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.
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain and snow fell across the White Mountains. Nineteen inches of snow was reported at around 9000 feet (Sunrise Ski Park).
Heavy snow fell across the Eastern Mogollon Rim. The rain changed to snow in the afternoon...and by midnight...over 8 inches of snow fell. Forest Lakes reported a total of a foot of snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, March 2014
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: 505733, 505732.