Phoenix Student -- wanting colder weather

[Magnum Mike]

It's not strange that Seattle and Flagstaff are in some ways similar in climate, even though Flagstaff is only 125 miles north of Phoenix. Flagstaff is about 7000 feet elevation, Seattle is almost at sea level. In the winter, Seattle gets a lot of rain, and occassional snow, Flagstaff gets more snow. Flagstaff is colder in the winter, and they do get more days of below freezing temperatures, but just like Steve-O mentioned, they don't get enough very cold days to make it the "coldest" city in the lower 48 states.

In the summer, both are about the same in high temperature, the mornings are nice and cool, and the afternoons are warm, and in July, Flagstaff does get temperatures in the low to mid 90's, just like Seattle. I also believe Flagstaff did hit 100 degrees one time in 1990, when just about every place in Arizona hit record highs. The good thing about Flagstaff is they do get thunderstorms during the monsoon season, from late July through August, and that's often accompanied by a nice cool breeze in the afternoons.

[Steve-o]

I just checked and I only see 2 cities in the lower 48 that have more days below freezing than Flagstaff.

Mean Number of Days With Minimum Temperature 32 Degrees F or Less

[steve22]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

That's possible, but it needs an asterisk. I have property near there and it is not unusual with the elevation and dry air to have 50-60 degree temperature swings from day to night. In can be 30 in the wee hours and 80 in the afternoon. The temp increase at sunrise is amazing - maybe 20 degrees in the first couple hours. So the big overnight drops add to the count of days below freezing. But if you did temps on an average daily basis, Flagstaff would not even come close to some of the colder areas along the northern tier.

This is a common phenomenon in the rocky mountain region. It's the elevation. I live in Durango now, and here we have a climate almost identical to that in Flagstaff. It's often very cold at night, teens and lower pretty regularly this time of year. But during the daytime, it's generally sunny & temps rise dramatically. So if you can stand to put on a few more layers at night, this climate is really quite nice, IMO. Having experienced the alternative in PHX, and being a pretty active person, I'll take this in a heartbeat.