Heavy Snow in Arizona, March 12 to 13, 2019

Name: Heavy Snow in Arizona, March 12 to 13, 2019
Start: 2019-03-12T17:00
End: 2019-03-13T19:00
Location: Arizona

March 12 to 13, 2019 · NWS FGZ · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A second storm in two days moved across Arizona on March 12 and 13. The first storm brought advisory level snow to parts of northern Arizona and moved east by mid-day.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS FGZ wrote it up.

A second storm in two days moved across Arizona on March 12 and 13. The first storm brought advisory level snow to parts of northern Arizona and moved east by mid-day. The second storm moved in quickly during the afternoon on the heels of the first storm.

What forecasters said that day

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 12, 2:40 PM MST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 2:40 PM MST, 2 hours 20 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 12, 11:30 AM MST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1130 AM MST TUE MAR 12 2019

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1100 AM     SNOW             FLAGSTAFF AIRPORT       35.14N 111.67W
03/12/2019  M2.0 INCH        COCONINO           AZ   TRAINED SPOTTER

            2.0 NEW SNOWFALL 5 AM -11 AM SNOW DEPTH 2
            INCHES.

&&

41

Local storm report, Mar 12, 12:02 PM MST, 4 hours 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1202 PM MST TUE MAR 12 2019

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0730 AM     SNOW             1 ENE FOREST LAKES      34.34N 110.79W
03/12/2019  M3.5 INCH        COCONINO           AZ   PUBLIC

            3.5 INCHES NEW SNOW BTWN MIDNIGHT AND 730 AM
            REPORTED AT NOON 3.12.

&&

41

Local storm report, Mar 12, 12:03 PM MST, 4 hours 57 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1203 PM MST TUE MAR 12 2019

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1100 AM     SNOW             BELLEMONT (NWS FLAGSTAF 35.23N 111.82W
03/12/2019  M1.8 INCH        COCONINO           AZ   PUBLIC

            NEW SNOWFALL 1.8 INCHES 5 AM - 11 AM.

&&

41

Local storm report, Mar 12, 12:05 PM MST, 4 hours 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1205 PM MST TUE MAR 12 2019

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1113 AM     SNOW             4 NW MCNARY             34.11N 109.90W
03/12/2019  M2.5 INCH        NAVAJO             AZ   PUBLIC

&&

41

Local storm report, Mar 12, 12:06 PM MST, 4 hours 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1206 PM MST TUE MAR 12 2019

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1107 AM     SNOW             4 SE SHOW LOW           34.19N 110.01W
03/12/2019  M1.7 INCH        NAVAJO             AZ   PUBLIC

&&

41

Local storm report, Mar 12, 2:44 PM MST, 2 hours 16 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Western Mogollon Rim

When: March 12, 5:00 PM MST to March 13, 11:00 AM MST
Where: Western Mogollon Rim forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 35.839, -111.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Nine inches of snow fell at the Flagstaff Airport between 5 PM March 12 and 11 AM on March 13.

Heavy Snow, Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau

When: March 12, 6:00 PM MST to March 13, 9:00 AM MST
Where: Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 35.396, -109.489 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Eight inches of snow fell in Upper Wheatfields overnight.

Heavy Snow, Eastern Mogollon Rim

When: March 13, 3:00 AM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where: Eastern Mogollon Rim forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 35.620, -111.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ten inches of snow fell between 3 AM and 10 AM on March 13 in Forest Lakes.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arizona in 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, March 2019

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 814690, 814697, 814692.