HikeArizona.COM

The endless chatter of weather.

Snowbowl is reporting a storm total of two feet of snow this morning.

Other locations around flagstaff and the Mogollon rim are in the 10-12 inch range.

Seems this storm packed a bit more of a punch than the forecast called for!

Did a little hiking on the Mogollon Rim this morning. Those accumulation numbers sound about right. The Mazzies are even snowcapped right now

This morning a friend drove me up to Williams to pick up my car. I had left it there for a few days. I drive a motorhome and I don't like to tow the car if I don't have to. It took us 15 minutes of scraping ice and brushing snow to get it cleaned off enough so that I could drive it over to a restaurant. I went inside and got a meal, allowed the sun to do more, then went out and spent another 10 minutes scraping and brushing. (One of my big kayaks was on the roof rack, so I had to get the snow off of it, too.) Once the car was drivable I got in it and went directly home to my riverbank in the desert. I'm at about 500 feet above sea level here. I SO hate the snow. I don't even go "ooh! aah!" any more when I see it coating the pines like frosting. Get me away from it! (Now I am sounding just like Jim and his nemesis, the humid monsoon!) At least with the snow you can drive downhill to get away from it.

My only concern is whether or not Snowbowl Rd is open or closed Saturday. If open, I hike and bring winter gear, if closed, I don't know. Elden? Inner Basin, unless the Lockett Meadow RD is closed? I would have preferred if this waited a week, but only if the road is closed. Really, this is that awkward teenage period when there is snow, and enough to make the hike difficult, but not enough to really be off trail or bury most obstacles.

@Jim_H
Just add the road to the hike and put super in the title to get that AEG. Ha!

@MtnBart01
That would be too long for the day light hours and to get home, but I might head to the Inner Basin depending on what that looks like. However, I checked the Snowbowl Website, and according to it, "Guest Services", which I found to be located in the Hart Prairie Lodge, is open from 10 to 4, Thursday to Saturday, for the pick up of some kind of season pass, so I ought to be good. I hope so, as I reserved a hotel room which is non-refundable, right before the storm.

For those who watch such things, I do not recall a year as wet as this, in Flagstaff. Already well over 25 inches of precipitation for the year. Practically eastern!

Anybody else think that the system currently affecting AZ has been a little bit more robust than the forecasts called for?

There are plenty of .50"-.75" and even some over 1" rain totals across the valley. There are storm systems that drop that kind of rain that get all kinds of media coverage for days ahead of time, while this seemed to just call for a strong cold front with some "scattered showers".

Missed forecast or not, I love it. Keep 'em coming!

chumley wrote:Anybody else think that the system currently affecting AZ has been a little bit more robust than the forecasts called for?

It seems that way. I know I was glad I happened to grab my beanie and gloves along with my umbrella before I left to hike on the BCT north of Mayer yesterday. Besides the intermittent showers, it was cold when I finished up. It was pouring all the way from Mayer to Anthem on my drive home.

Didn't do much down my way. .20"

There was a little unexpected snow burst here this morning accompanied by thunder and lightning, followed by sunshine. Waiting for another dusting this afternoon.

The N wrote:There was a little unexpected snow burst here this morning accompanied by thunder and lightning, followed by sunshine. Waiting for another dusting this afternoon.

cool photo... in more ways than one.

I am hearing about meetings being canceled and school day delays in the White Mountains from my friends who are still stuck there. ;)

Is it okay to gloat some more?

All this is building one heck of a wildflower season! Bring it on!!

I just can't think of too many times when we have had not 1, but now 2 fairly moist winter storms this early in the season. Snowbowl opens Friday (the road is closed Thursday, FYI) and I expect the traffic this and next weekend will be ridiculous. A quiet forecast for the next week or so.

Trouble is, early season storms are no predictor of the season overall, so say weather bloggers with more experience and data than me. It is all very promising, and it would be good for California to have a wet winter from the Oregon border to the Mexican border, but we won't know until March, or so.

Just got back from four days in the eastern Supes. Almost got washed away the first day. Didn't figure it could last another day. Wrong again, only it was mostly hail and snow all the next day. Every drainage was still running heavy today. I stayed dry except for my feet. Boots were frozen solid the last couple mornings. Not many bugs, though.

big_load wrote:Not many bugs, though.

@The Eagle
Congratulations on a thread milestone: post #4700!

Take some joy in knowing that each post has turned one of Joe's hairs gray.

big_load wrote:Not many bugs, though

No buzz worms?

SuperstitionGuy wrote:

big_load wrote:Not many bugs, though

No buzz worms?

That was another plus. It might have been warm enough in sunny spots yesterday, but maybe they all drowned.