A late season cold front brought snow to the high country of northern Arizona. Anywhere from 3 to 9 inches of snow fell at elevations above 6000 feet from the North Rim of The Grand Canyon to Flagstaff to Heber to White Mountains.
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 late season cold front brought snow to the high country of northern Arizona. Anywhere from 3 to 9 inches of snow fell at elevations above 6000 feet from the North Rim of The Grand Canyon to Flagstaff to Heber to White Mountains. Heavy snow criteria for 24 hours is 6 inches between 5000 and 7000 feet, 8 inches between 7000 feet and 8500 feet and over 12 inches over 8500 feet.
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 May 14, 9:45 PM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 945 PM MST THU MAY 14 2015 .SYNOPSIS... EXPECT PRECIPITATION CHANCES TO CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY...WITH THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION OCCURRING FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. AREAS ABOVE 6500 FEET COULD SEE SOME LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION. AFTER A BREAK SUNDAY...ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE OF RAIN ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. MAINLY DRY WEATHER IS FORECAST FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...THE FIRST OF TWO LOW PRESSURE CENTERS TO AFFECT THE STATE IS CURRENTLY OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND WILL ROTATE UP INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA OVERNIGHT. LIFT AND INSTABILITY AHEAD OF THIS LOW WILL AFFECT CENTRAL AND WESTERN ARIZONA OVERNIGHT, WITH A GOOD CHANCE OF SHOWERS. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO LIKELY MAINLY NW OF FLAGSTAFF TOWARD THE GRAND CANYON. UPDATES TO REFLECT HIGHER OVERNIGHT RAIN CHANCES WERE SENT EARLIER. THE MAIN TROUGH AND MORE SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IS STILL ON TRACK FOR FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. .PREV DISCUSSION...(314 PM MST)... STRONG WIND SHEAR AHEAD OF THE TROUGH CURRENTLY ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST HAS LED TO SOME STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL/STRONG WIND GUSTS FROM FAR NORTHERN ARIZONA INTO SOUTHERN UTAH WHERE SUFFICIENT MOISTURE AND LIFT EXISTS. FROM NOW INTO THIS EVENING...EXPECT SHOWERS/STORMS TO CONTINUE FROM YAVAPAI COUNTY THROUGH WESTERN COCONINO COUNTY...THEN ACROSS FAR NORTHEAST ARIZONA. THE THREAT OF STRONG STORMS WILL DIMINISH GREATLY AFTER SUNSET. THE GREATEST PRECIP CHANCES AS WELL AS THE GREATEST FORECAST PRECIP AMOUNTS STRETCH FROM MIDDAY FRIDAY THROUGH MIDDAY SATURDAY AS ANOTHER DISTURBANCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE WEST COAST TROUGH APPROACHES NORTHERN ARIZONA. THIS DISTURBANCE IS ASSOCIATED WITH MOISTURE ADVECTION EXCEEDING THE 95TH PERCENTILE FOR MAY. PRECIP AMOUNTS IN THE 0.25"-0.75" RANGE WILL BE COMMON...WITH 2-4 INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE ABOVE THE 6500 FOOT LEVEL ON FRIDAY NIGHT. PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO END BY SATURDAY EVENING. SUNDAY IS EXPECTED TO BE DRY AND ABOUT 7-10 DEGREES WARMER THAN SATURDAY. EXPECT ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE TROUGH TO BRING PRECIP CHANCES TO NORTHERN ARIZONA ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY...MOST NOTABLY NEAR THE AZ/UT STATE LINE. MOISTURE VALUES ARE LOWER AND TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO STAY RELATIVELY WARM WITH THE SYSTEM EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH SNOW LEVELS CURRENTLY IN THE 9000-9500 FOOT RANGE. DRY WEATHER AND NEAR AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION... FOR THE 06Z PACKAGE...WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. FRIDAY AFTER 18Z NUMEROUS RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP ALONG WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. EXPECT WIDESPREAD IFR CONDITIONS OVER MOUNTAIN REGIONS DUE TO LOW CEILINGS AND PERIODS OF LOW VISIBILITIES IN SNOW SHOWERS. SCATTERED MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST ELSEWHERE WITH PERIODS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...MOISTURE WILL ALSO BE ON THE INCREASE WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING THIS AFTERNOON. FRIDAY THROUGH MID DAY SATURDAY...EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...WELL BELOW NORMAL DAYTIME TEMPERATURES...AND WINDY CONDITIONS. SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...DRIER WEATHER...WARMING TEMPERATURES...AND LIGHTER WINDS ARE EXPECTED. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC......JJ/AT AVIATION...BOHLIN FIRE WEATHER...TM
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A late season snow storm dropped 9.2 inches at the NWS office in Bellemont (7152 feet MSL). Nine inches of snow also fell above 8500 feet in Hart Prairie.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, May 2015
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: 581677.