Snow coming this weekend?

[chikkutom]

Hi all,

According to the weather reports there is a chance of snow this weekend in the northern part of arizona (http://hikearizona.com/forecast.php?LAT ... =-111.6851). And I want to see snow this year. Can anyone tell me if this is a good time to see snow, meaning would there be enough snow to get some decent shots? If so when should i go, Saturday or sunday? Also any place suggestion? I was planning to go to West fork trail in Oak Creek, Sedona, but not sure if there will be enough snow. Also is there any good place in Payson to see snow? with streams or some nice scenery?

Thanks for you help.

[Dschur]

per National Weather Service for the Payson area... elevation of Payson is 5000 ft.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 39. South southwest wind between 6 and 10 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 57. East southeast wind 5 to 11 mph becoming south southwest. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.

Friday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39. South wind between 3 and 11 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. South southeast wind between 3 and 9 mph.

Saturday Night: Rain showers, mainly after 11pm. Snow level 6400 feet lowering to 5500 feet. Low around 34. South southwest wind between 3 and 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Sunday: Snow showers likely, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday Night: A chance of rain and snow showers. Snow level 5100 feet. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

[chikkutom]

Thanks for the info Dschur!
What do u think about mogollon rim? its in the 6000ft range right? would there be enough by sunday morning?

[chumley]

Its going to be wintry across the state into the middle of next week. Areas around Payson and Prescott (and the West Fork trail) are at about 5,000 feet and may see some snow by Sunday night. But likely mostly rain. Looks like Monday night and Tuesday brings a cooler storm where these locations will see some light snow accumulations.

But for the weekend, you'll probably have to get above 6000 feet. Near Payson, you might try the area around Christopher Creek or Kohl's Ranch along Highway 260.

There is currently snow along the Mogollon Rim that's been there since before Christmas. Many areas above 7000 feet are snow covered even before this weekend's storms.

Keep in mind that if you're traveling to see snow this weekend that you will probably be driving IN a snowstorm. This is usually one of those "if you don't have to drive, stay off the roads" situations. It might be best to wait until a few days after the storm (next weekend) when the roads are cleared and then go for your trip.

If you use the TrailDEX Map link above, you can select any hike or area you wish to visit. There's a link that will show the elevation at the crosshairs, and another link that will show the National Weather Service forecast for that specific location. Forecasted snow totals usually aren't added to the forecast until about 36-48 hours ahead of the storm and update every 6 hours, so check frequently for forecast changes.

[Dschur]

Also if you do a search on Forest Lakes there is a live web cam that shows the "snow stick" there and you can see how much snow is there. There is also one on the National parks service web page for grand canyon/Rocky Mt. Research center in Flagstaff...

[Jim]

The "Peaks Cam" which has the live view of the San Francisco Peaks and the snow gage up in the Fort Valley Experimental forest is run by the Rocky Mt Research Station, which is a branch of the Forest Service, USDA, and I think the Legislative Branch of Federal Government. I believe this since National Forest Wilderness Areas are mandated by congress. The Fort Valley center is not associated with the Canyon in anyway, other than perhaps some research projects that may be taking place in the Park.

This is significant because the Park Service is not the Forest Service, and while to most people there is absolutely no difference between the two agencies, there really is a huge difference between the them. The differences extend all the way up to the branches of government that they are under. The Park Service is under the Department of the Interior and then the Executive Branch, FS is a different branch as mentioned previously.
Not trying to rip you a new one, and I know your mistake was one of innocent ignorance, but it is important to discuss since you direct people to search for the web cam through incorrect means.

[Dschur]

You DO get to the web page of the Rocky Mt. research from the Grand canyon site it has both the Peaks Cam and the Yavapai point cam. From there you DO click the Peaks Cam to get to the other one but if you go to the NPS Grand Canyon web page you get there I have it booked marked for them both from one page......And I KNOW there is a difference between the Park service and Forest Service..... but was directing the easiest way....

[Jim]

OK, well, I was unaware that the NPS Grand Canyon has a link to the Peaks Cam. Lots of different sites have links to it and it can also be embedded into websites. The web cam isn't run on a NPS site, and I wouldn't expect to search for it via the NPS. In the past the easiest way that I found to search for the cam was to search by "peaks cam", not by any Park Service site, and I would expect it to be confusing to search through them. It is good that you know the difference, more people should know this. Still, your writing suggested that you were saying the Fort Valley Exp. Forest was on a Park service site. I felt the need to clarify to people who would not know one way or the other.

[azbackpackr]

OK back to the weather. It poured rain all day yesterday here in Yuma. We Yuman beings aren't used to it, but this has been a rainy winter here. I think it has rained really hard at least three times! ;)

So I assume after dumping on us it moved on to the east and dumped on the Catalinas and the White Mtns. Anyone in Tucson seeing snow? How about on the Supes? Strand, are you there in the White Mtns? Any snow up there?

Another webcam can be found where you can watch skiers at Sunrise Park Ski Resort in the White Mountains. Just google that and you can find it. They have a live, high speed one, so you can see them moving, albeit sort of with jerky movements. It's fun.

[PaleoRob]

Rained overnight/this morning up here in Page.

[azbackpackr]

Snow on Navajo Mountain, Rob?

[Dschur]

We have 4 inches of snow on the ground here in Payson and it is still coming down. This is the first we have had all winter here in Payson except for a couple of dustings....

[hippiepunkpirate]

About six inches last night here in Flag....more coming!

[Jim]

Last nights storm was really odd. At 11pm it was clear, calm and there was a nice full moon that never made me think a storm was coming.

[JoelHazelton]

I'm up in Prescott and there's snow all over the place here. The coolest part was driving up near Cordes Junction I could see the Mazatzals to the east, and those were completely white.

[Dschur]

We now have 6 inches on the ground at my house in Payson...Looks like it has slowed down for now....

[PaleoRob]

Snow on Navajo Mountain, Rob?

Clouds are too low to see it yet. I'd guess probably yes, though.

[rushthezeppelin]

Looks like most of the Eastern Supes that's above 5k or so got a decent powdering last night. We camped literally 200 feet or so below the snowline. Even looked up to see snow melting about 30 feet above the ground this morning.

[Jim]

Up here in Flag we've already had about 15 inches over the last 2 days, and we are forecast to get an additional 9 to 13 inches overnight. Then we are forecast to have another weaker storm on Thursday and another round over the coming weekend. I wouldn't put it past us to have about 3 to 4 feet by this time next week. We're more than making up for our poultry January. It sure was nice in January, though.

[Sredfield]

Poultry January? Ducks, chickens, geese? What's going on up there?