A strong cold front brought high wind gusts to the Little Colorado River Valley in Apache Country. This area is downwind of the White Mountains which tends to accelerate winds.
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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 wind gusts to the Little Colorado River Valley in Apache Country. This area is downwind of the White Mountains which tends to accelerate winds.
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 Feb 3, 9:09 PM MST, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Flagstaff AZ 909 PM MST Wed Feb 3 2021 .SYNOPSIS...Expect locally gusty southwest winds into the overnight hours before shifting to the northeast Thursday morning. Dry weather and warmer afternoon temperatures are forecast for the weekend. && .DISCUSSION...Southwest winds have subsided in most areas this evening, but we are still seeing localized gusts in the 35 to 45 mph range over the Little Colorado River Valley. Expect wind speeds to gradually diminish and shift to the north to northeast Thursday morning as a cold front passes through the area. A brief cooldown Thursday will give way to moderating temperatures for the weekend. Only minor changes were made to the forecast with the evening update. && .PREV DISCUSSION /416 PM MST/...Strong southwest winds continue across the region with the stronger winds over the higher terrain. We had reports of gusts to 45 mph mostly in northern Coconino County. The Wind Advisory remains in effect until 6PM today for the Kaibab and Coconino Plateaus west to Mohave County, the Vermilion Cliffs west of Page, along and northeast of the Mogollon Rim, and over the higher terrain of Navajo and Apache Counties. Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Specifically, these winds will affect motorists from Flagstaff east to the New Mexico state line on I-40 and north to Cameron on Highway 89. Look for the winds to decrease after sunset. A cold front moving down through the Great Basin will at the Utah/Arizona border about midnight, will push south to I-40 by about 6 AM Thursday and will pass south out of the region by noon. Expect some gusty north winds behind this front, but little precipitation, and that mostly limited to the Four Corners area. Thursday will have northerly breezes through the day that will keep temperatures a little below normal for the day. Look for a warming trend Friday through Sunday with mostly clear skies, dry weather and westerly to northwesterly breezes. Beyond the weekend, there is little consensus among the weather models for the Desert Southwest. This uncertainty is mostly due to the Hudson Bay low making a wobbling orbit through south-central Canada affecting the location of the longwave trough over the central US. Disagreement among the model on the location of the low at any one time is causing wide variation in the temperatures for next week. In general, we will be under a dry zonal flow for the coming week, but there is a chance for unsettled weather depending on what the Canadian low does. Stay tuned for forecast updates as we go into the long weekend. && .AVIATION...For the 06Z package...VFR conditions will prevail over the next 24 hours. Southwest surface winds will generally be light except remaining locally gusty northeast of the higher terrain into the overnight hours. Winds shifting to north to northeast at 5-15 kt gusting 20 kt Thursday morning. Aviation discussion not updated for TAF amendments. && .FIRE WEATHER...Locally gusty southwest winds will continue overnight but become northerly on Thursday. Cooler behind a cold front. Friday will see light northwest winds, dry conditions and a bit warmer temperatures. Good ventilation each afternoon. Saturday through Monday...Dry with little change in temperatures. Light northerly winds on Saturday will shift to westerly on Sunday. Gusty southwest winds are expected to develop on Monday. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC...TPS/DB AVIATION...TPS FIRE WEATHER...McCollum For Northern Arizona weather information visit weather.gov/flagstaff
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High gusts wind hit Springerville between 1125 and midnight the evening of February 3.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, February 2021
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: 948438.