Arizona weather?

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 2:07 am

Mention Arizona and people think of hot and desert. It's true we have hot weather in the summer, sometimes too hot, like 110-115 degs. But, that's at a low altitude, down in the valley. There's some hot over by the Colorado River/Mohave Desert and there's some hot down by Yuma. Arizona also has mountains up to the 12,000 ft San Francisco's north of Flagstaff. Flagstaff is about 7,500 ft in altitude. We are about 4,200 ft. in altitude and Prescott and Prescott Valley are about 5,000 to 5,700 depending on where you are at any given time.
The altitude is what makes our weather so changeable from here to there. Last year we, here in Mayer, had about 5 inches of rain, total for the whole year. In December, we did have a nice amount of rain and we loved it but it was still warm and it was rain here and it was rain up the hill. I say up the hill when I speak of Prescott Valley. That is where we shop and where I work at the library and where dr goes to the flea market.
We had rain a couple of weeks ago that was two or three inches which is good. It made things a little muddy and since the weather was about 10 degs cooler it stayed wet for longer. If you dug with your toe you could still find wet ground.
The forecast for this week was rain for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Then, they took the rain out of the forecast for Thursday and Monday.
Then, they took the rain out for Friday. Then, they put rain back in the forecast for Thursday and took it out for Friday. Then, they took it out for Saturday and it was for Thursday, Sunday and Monday.
It was gray and cloudy Thursday and it started to rain about one o'clock. It was a nice steady rain and we acquired a few puddles. But, up the hill it was rain and rain mixed with some snow in the morning and rain in the afternoon. When we went up to the library around 5 pm it was raining but not too much. When we came out at nine pm, it wasn't doing much of anything, but the temperature had gone down to about 30 and the streets and ground was frost covered and icy. I drove home very carefully. We had rain here and there coming home but we made it okay.
Friday is my day off so we went up the hill for breakfast and went to two estate sales. There was SNOW on the ground. Now, mind you the snow level was probably 4,500 ft level because as soon as we reached the highway we could see it on the tops of the mountains (hills) close to us. They had maybe one to three inches up the hill, again depending which altitude level you were at. It was gray and cloudy but no rain or snow and the streets were clean and dry.
Tomorrow, it is supposed to be mostly cloudy and rain in the evening and on into Sunday. That is here in Mayer. Up the hill it will be rain and rain mixed with snow. I'm hoping it doesn't start until we are home after 4 pm. Then, they've put the rain back in the forecast for Monday and taken it out for Tuesday and put it back for Wednesday. Of course, it all depends on where you are at any given time. We drive in and out of it in the twenty miles we go up the hill. It will be snow up there and rain or rain mixed with snow here. In the valley, I think they have snow, maybe once every twenty or thirty years. When my sister lived in Flagstaff and had their truck they loaded it with snow everytime they went to see relatives in Phoenix and emptied it in their yard. Kids came from miles just to look at it and if they were invited to play in it they were joyous.
Now, Flagstaff, at 7,500 ft has snow from November through March or April and one time we drove through six inches of it in June. But, for the last four or five years there wasn't enough snow to open Snowbowl for skiing. That's up in the San Francisco mountains north of Flagstaff.
I'm waiting for spring and summer. Spring will arrive sometime the end of February and we could have frost into April if we have enough moisture to generate frost. We didn't have frost last fall until December because it was too dry. We're all hoping for a wet spring but the paper today said drier than normal through April. So, come on rain, rain mixed with snow or just plain snow. We'd like to see that creek running bank to bank and flooding the road.

dooley

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glendann wrote on Sat Jan 26, 2008 3:09 am:

That is truely mixed up Dooley.Heather told me they are expecting an Aric front tomorrow evening .Its 6 degrees there tonight by by Sunday morning has double didget - 0 .Thats crazy.
I hope ya'll get more rain this year than last.I hope for rain but not all the floods.

Droopy wrote on Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:22 am:

Sounds like you're living here, Dooley, all the ups and downs, snow, rain, no rain but not the heat. Our forecast is mostly wrong regarding rain because of the mountains. Well, that's what they tell us, anyway. We get more than our share most of the time.

CritterPainter wrote on Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:05 pm:

It's just plain ol' cold and miserable here. But you are right, its hard to imagine anything but hot sand when I think of Arizona, but I bet that perception keeps quiet areas from becoming overpopulate. Though the idea of garage sales in January could blow the lid off that, lol!