Snow makes unexpected autumn appearance in Arizona mountains

PHOENIX – Fall took a back seat to winter-lite in the mountains of eastern Arizona on Thursday, with snow coming down on the last day of September.

Sunrise Park Resort in Greer reported 2 inches of snow dropped overnight and more was dropping. The ski season at the White Mountains park is tentatively scheduled to open Dec. 3.

540 AM (MST) – Could it be? The radar is showing precipitation and our surface observations are showing temperatures below freezing. Yes! It is my friends, it is indeed! What? Why, it's snowing, that's what – snowing above 9800 feet in the White Mountains this morning! #azwx pic.twitter.com/bLKWn7TC52

— NWS Flagstaff (@NWSFlagstaff) September 30, 2021

Top elevation at the park is 10,700 feet.

The National Weather Service in Flagstaff also said snow dusted the San Francisco peaks (highest point is 12,633 feet above sea level) and that temperatures had dropped below freezing at the Bellemont office, which logged 29.6 degrees. The freezing point for water is 32 degrees.

Meanwhile, there is little chance of freezing down in the Valley – Thursday morning’s low at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport was 70 degrees, 3 degrees below normal for the date.

The high for the last official day of the 2021 monsoon season was expected to reach a sunny 88 degrees. The numbers start going up after that, the forecast showed. Friday will be slightly warmer at 90 degrees and by Monday it could be 96 degrees.

That is not snow-friendly at all.

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