Flagstaff sees its first snowfall of the season

Snow blanketed Mount Humphreys in Flagstaff as cooler temperatures and thunderstorms rolled across northern Arizona Friday morning.

The National Weather Service predicted 8 to 12 inches of snow this weekend for Arizona Snowbowl, a ski resort on Mount Humphreys, with most of it falling between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Friday.

Storms in the Flagstaff area brought hail and caused slush on roads, according to a post from the National Weather Service on X, formerly known as Twitter. The largest reported diameter was about half an inch, which is small but still enough to impact roads, said Valerie Meola, a meteorologist with the weather service.

Strong thunderstorms and strong winds are expected to move through the area Friday morning through Friday night. The National Weather Service reported that snow and rain conditions are expected to continue through Sunday, although total snow accumulation is expected to be less than two inches.

Winter weather is expected to extend beyond the Flagstaff area to Show Low and Window Rock in the Navajo Nation. A winter weather advisory was issued early Friday morning for the Kaibab Plateau and Chuska Mountains in northeastern Arizona.

Highs on Friday and Saturday are expected to be in the upper 40s, and Sunday highs are expected to be in the mid 50s.

“It’s definitely colder than what we expect for this time of year,” Meola said. “Normal temperatures for Flagstaff are typically in the low 60s for mid-October.”

However, the winter weather is not expected to last very long. The weather service forecast temperatures would rise to below 70 degrees by Wednesday, which would be unseasonably warm for this time of year, Meola said. No further rainfall is forecast after the weekend.

The average first day of measurable snow in Flagstaff is around Nov. 11, according to the weather service. Friday's snow was “earlier, but not unusual,” Meola said.

The last measurable snowfall in Flagstaff was April 27th.

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