Holiday drivers in northern Arizona will face snowy road conditions

PHOENIX – A storm that was likely to stretch from northern Arizona into a neighboring state will complicate road trips for Thanksgiving travelers, weather pros said Tuesday.

Flagstaff could be hit with as much as two feet of snow between Turkey Day and Friday, while Forest Lakes could get three feet. Snow on the San Francisco Peaks could top 40 inches.

The storm will also blow into New Mexico.

Forecasters have warned of “difficult to impossible travel conditions” in northern Arizona at the busiest travel time of the year.

“This is a storm we would see more likely in the heart of the winter,” meteorologist Tim Steffen in Flagstaff told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Tuesday.

“But it looks like it’s going to be on our doorstep in the next 24 to 48 hours,” Steffen, who works for the National Weather Service, said.

Those are days when travelers will be hitting the road to enjoy the Thanksgiving break somewhere else.

6:00 AM MST – The forecast remains on track with snowfall amounts unchanged from yesterday's graphic. We want to continue to stress that travel conditions will become difficult to impossible Thanksgiving Day and Friday. Please avoid traveling if at all possible. #azwx pic.twitter.com/LXG52l2sqx

— NWS Flagstaff (@NWSFlagstaff) November 26, 2019

“No matter where you go, let’s make sure you’re prepared,” Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Col. Frank Milstead said on Arizona’s Morning News.

“(Have) warm clothing with you, have food and water, your car is gassed, tires are filled. All those things and you buckle your seat belt,” he said.

Milstead said Interstate 40, U.S. Highway 93 and State Route 87 would be compromised because of inclement weather Friday and Saturday. He suggested drivers limit their time behind the wheel those days.

The Valley was going to have a wet Black Friday, forecasters said.

“Everyone is going to have to be nice,” Milstead said, “… so everyone can make those sales and get there safely.”

Milstead, an Arizona native, said he runs into transplants who are surprised to meet someone who grew up here.

“I think to myself, ‘If you’re all from somewhere else where it rains and snows, why do we drive so poorly on these days?'”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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