Atmosphere Comparison

[Jim]

The endless chatter of weather.

[azbackpackr]

Natch they left out Greer, Alpine, Eagar and Springerville. I hear that Alpine and Greer got well over a foot. Eagar/Springerville more like 2-4 inches. And very windy.

[chumley]

I actually gotta give the NWS a little credit here ...

OK, well ... I very rarely give them any credit at all as it seems they get way more wrong than they do right. But I do stand by the fact that they had this storm forecast pretty accurate at least 5 days out.

I was very surprised to see that the post-storm-report showed 6 inches in Payson since when I was in Payson at 2pm, it was raining, and the snow level was at 5400 feet. But I thought it was possible that it had dropped 500 feet and dumped overnight. The post-storm-report is typically generated from people who call in, so who knows where the person who called from "Payson" actually was. Aside from Rob up in Page, this storm was fairly accurately predicted.

Now if we get another "significant accumulation" event on Sunday as they're calling for, I'll be impressed ... and happy. Lightning rarely strikes twice!

[joebartels]

Ah I think they do a good job for the most part. Otherwise I wouldn't ever look at a forecast.

[azbackpackr]

Yeah, they must get tired of people harping on them all the time, too.

So, the snow here has melted off the roadways, but not out of the yards, due to the cold. Maybe today I'll go cross country skiing. I'll let you guys know.

[Ckzona]

And just to let any of you who dont know Elk Ridge Ski area near Williams is going to be open this saturday and Flagstaff Nordic center is also opening on Friday. I have also heard from someone who works at Sunrise is that they are going to attempt to open on the 18th.

http://www.elkridgeski.com

[joebartels]

All the runs are named after GC rapids

[chumley]

Is that the former "Bill Williams Ski Area"? I've never been there, but have heard that its a much better place than Snowbowl if you want to get out there and get your kids familiar with skiing. More of a low-key, family-type atmosphere.

[Jim]

Woooob wooob woooob woooob wooooob woooob wooooob.....wooooob!!

[Ckzona]

Chumley. Arizona snowbowl is much bigger gets much more snow, but yes this place is got the family-type feel and is very small with a low amount of people. Its a great place to teach a child to ski. Doesnt get too much snow but if i wanted to train my children i would defintely go here.

Yeh it used to be Bill Williams

[azbackpackr]

Chumley, Sunrise is MUCH bigger than the other two put together, and gets more snow than the other two put together. Just for the record.

Someone from Alpine was at a Xmas party last night, told me they had 2 feet of snow up there, and that still there is only a narrow space left to drive a vehicle within the walls of snow thrown up by the plows. It is not melting very fast, either, and now we have another one on the way. Yippee!

The Alpine person complained that the news channels, internet news, and Phoenix TV news act like there is no Arizona beyond Show Low. She said, "They never mention Alpine, even when we get more snow than anyone else." Personally, I think that's probably a good thing!

[PaleoRob]

I actually saw pictures from Alpine on the Phoenix news after the storm.

I generally agree, though. The news seems to act like nothing north of I-40 (except the Grand Canyon) exists. The huge Navajo Nation hardly ever gets mentioned - despite its capitol being in Arizona, and having some super diverse terrain (rivers, mountains, deserts, forests, etc.). Oh well, such is life I guess.

[cathymocha]

How about Mt. Lemon? How much snow, etc.

[chumley]

Elizabeth, I've skied both Snowbowl and Sunrise more times than I can count. Each has its own positives. If I must ski on a weekend, I prefer Sunrise because the crowds are generally much, much smaller (except during Tucson Rodeo weekend). But I much prefer the terrain on the SF Peaks. If you want to ski something steep at Sunrise, it is very short, and followed by way too much flat terrain to get back to the lift. But at least you have options. At Snowbowl you are basically fed into one of two trails on every run. I do like the option of hiking out and skiing the bowl though (when there's enough snow).

And Rob - The national media is worse. They've been talking about this storm as it moved across the country ... dropping "up to a foot" of snow across the midwest, with high-winds and whiteout conditions, etc. Most stories then say the storm originated on the west coast where it dumped lots of rain on California. But reports never mention the 2-3 FEET that fell in Arizona, Blizzard warnings, closed interstates, etc. I think JNap and McCain need to remind the east coast intelligencia that the "southwest" doesn't mean Texas!

[Jim]

When people outside of AZ think of AZ I am sure that for 99.99% of the people they either think of the Canyon or Phoenix/Tucson. Neither of which are associated with snow. Even though the canyon gets snow, most tourists go in summer so it seems hot and being AZ it must therefore always be hot. From I-40 north there are hardly any people, and my experience with the average valley dweller has been that if it didn't happen in the valley it isn't worth knowing about. Aside from that, I know I couldn't care less about what happens in anyplace east of the 100th meridian unless it affects the price of something, so I don't expect those people to care about northern Arizona.

[dysfunction]

Personally, I think they have NO CLUE and think of Saharan/Gobe type deserts. Without question the #1 comment from people who come to visit is how green the desert is. Then they're stymied by the # of national forests, the pines, grasslands, anything from that point..

[azbackpackr]

Many people who have lived in Arizona their entire LIVES have no clue. You need go no further than which ever town you happen to live in.

This is what 90% of the people I talk to in various areas of the state have to say about other areas:
Springerville: "Where's that?"
Yuma "Too HOT: 120 degrees in the middle of January!"
Grand Canyon "Born and raised in Arizona but have never been there."
Lake Havasu: "Where's that?"
Havasu Falls: "Oh, I've been there, big lake--I went water skiing there!"
Window Rock: "Isn't that in New Mexico?"
Douglas: "Where's that?"
Tucson: "Isn't that part of Phoenix?"
Parker: "Where's that?"
Eagar: "Where's that?"
St. John's: "Where's that?"
Show Low: "Isn't that by Flagstaff?"
Pinetop: "Isn't that in northern Arizona?" (A LOT of people think Show Low and Pinetop are in northern Arizona--even people who go there! They don't look at the map, they just follow the road there, I guess.) Fold the map in half, horizontally...

When I've wintered in Yuma, the lack of geographical knowledge of the state amongst both locals and snowbirds is downright astonishing. But they all know the way to the dunes, the casinos, and San Diego! And a lot of the snowbirds don't know that the Colorado River runs by Yuma...even though they have to cross the bridge to go gamble. They see the river when they cross the bridge, but it doesn't compute. This, however, is NOT true of fishermen. They all know the river and its lakes. If you tell a fisherman you're going kayaking, he's likely to give you some good info. When you live there for awhile you realize Yuma has a much more Calif feel to it--local people there have a lot of ties to Calif, (or Mexico, of course) but almost none to the rest of AZ. Most people in Yuma don't even seem to know there are high mountains with snow, ski areas, etc., in Arizona. The Scout troops all go canoeing on the Colorado in spring, and backpacking in the Sierra Nevada in summer.

[chumley]

Many people who have lived in Arizona their entire LIVES have no clue.Pinetop: "Isn't that in northern Arizona?" (A LOT of people think Show Low and Pinetop are in northern Arizona--even people who go there! They don't look at the map, they just follow the road there, I guess.) Fold the map in half, horizontally...

People are dumb. You can win big money making bets with people in the valley on this one. Sunrise/Mt.Baldy are basically due east of Lake Pleasant/Carefree/Cave Creek. Hannagan Meadow is on the same parallel as Bell Road! Definitely not "northern" Arizona. Pinetop is south of Payson?... yup!

[azbackpackr]

Yeah, I've pointed this out on several websites over the years. Can't learn 'em, though. ;)

Funny, too, because I've even run across people who actually LIVE here who refer to it as "northern Arizona."

[chumley]

Ask them which is farther west: Reno, Nevada or Los Angeles, California. Then show them a map and make them buy you dinner.

[dysfunction]

For that matter, San Francisco and Sacramento are not in 'northern California' either