Why do people say Flagstaff, AZ generally leads to a four-season climate? (Lake Montezuma: live in)

[6.7traveler]

IMO Flagstaff has a perfect 4 season climate with mild winters. Anyone who thinks Flagstaff has severe long winters has spent way too much time in Arizona Yes it gets cold at night and can get dumped on from time to time, but between the radiant heat from the sun at 7200 feet and the dry air, it makes even the coldest days fairly pleasant. The worst thing would be the windy season. Just my .02 cents.

[adventuregurl]

Originally Posted by shrek2001

Summer- It's chilly (60F or 65F) and rainy for the majority of the day except morning, which warm weather is very temporary, and it is really cold at nighttime.

Absolutely not, it can get cool during a monsoon but that is not everyday and when there is a monsoon, it is not the majority of the day except for the very rare exception.

[thedirtman]

Originally Posted by shrek2001

Summer- It's chilly (60F or 65F) and rainy for the majority of the day except morning, which warm weather is very temporary, and it is really cold at nighttime.

Flagstaff, AZ Weather - USA.comâ„¢

Flagstaff in July has a mean summer temperature of 69.2. Really cold nights are 52.4? I guess that's really cold in comparison to say... summer nights in Jakarta?

I'm trying hard to see it your way, and one could argue that Flagstaff is mild for Arizona... that is if one defines mild as being the difference between summer and winter temperatures. The difference in temperature between winter and summer is generally less than Phoenix, and definitely less than Winslow.

Flagstaff has just a little more influence from Pacific Ocean because moisture moving from the south and the southwest gets squeezed out as it moves up the mountains. There are no higher mountains to the south and southwest, and that leads to there being a lot of mountain snowfall.

But I would never say there are not four seasons, unless one counts the monsoon season as being a fifth season.

[cab591]

The seasons of Flagstaff:

- April-May: Wind Season. Very strong winds. Use caution.
- May-August: Fire Season. The winds have dried everything out. Fire bans in effect, and the surrounding forest will catch fire.
- August-September: Monsoon Season. Thank god, the rains have put out the fires.
- September-November: Fall. It's actually quite nice.
- November-April: Winter. Nature documentaries flock to Flagstaff to record the annual migration of NAU students from Campus, to Snowbowl.

Well dang, I guess that's 5 seasons.

[pokuku]

I really like this post, mostly because of the inclusion of "Wind Season" which is very obvious to anyone who has lived here, and the exclusion of Spring...which I always argued doesn't exist in Flagstaff. There is no Springtime rain to bring the plants back to life, or to make them "spring forth" which is what the season is named after. If anything, Flagstaff only gets some kind of a mini-Spring...August/early Sept during Monsoon season, only to quickly go into Autumn again.

The classic four seasons do not exist here. There are multiple distinct seasons though, for sure.

Originally Posted by cab591

The seasons of Flagstaff:

- April-May: Wind Season. Very strong winds. Use caution.
- May-August: Fire Season. The winds have dried everything out. Fire bans in effect, and the surrounding forest will catch fire.
- August-September: Monsoon Season. Thank god, the rains have put out the fires.
- September-November: Fall. It's actually quite nice.
- November-April: Winter. Nature documentaries flock to Flagstaff to record the annual migration of NAU students from Campus, to Snowbowl.

Well dang, I guess that's 5 seasons.

[6.7traveler]

^The wind is the worst thing about flagstaff IMO. I lived on top of a hill about an hour outside of Flagstaff and it was relentless for two months straight. Almost every single day. Just when you thought it finally stopped after it died down for a day, it came back with a vengeance. It sucked all the moisture right out of you and it's tough to stay 100% hydrated that time of year.

[cab591]

What's funny is when people ask about moving to Flagstaff on these forums, literally NOBODY mentions the wind in April / May.

Some businesses even have signs on the door "keep door closed during wind", or something to that effect.

[waldmax]

hi flagstaff residents, i am from germany and i was in 1995, 1997, 1998 , 2005, 2007, 2008 in Flagstaff. its a nice
place to live
I come back soon.

[infocyde]

For those of you who would like less wind and slightly less snow there is Prescott down the road about an hour and a half away. Not as beautiful as Flagstaff IMHO, but still nice with four seasons. The lower elevation (which is still high enough to get a few good snows in per season) makes the Winters a little more mild than Flagstaff's (but the summers a little hotter). Only thing about Prescott is that it's not a college town and the economy is much more retiree orientated. Still worth a look for those who think Flagstaff Winters might be too extreme (which as someone who spent time in Michigan Winters makes me laugh). Prescott does get some crazy winds on occasion but it does not have a wind season per se like Flagstaff does.

[thedirtman]

Originally Posted by waldmax

hi flagstaff residents, i am from germany and i was in 1995, 1997, 1998 , 2005, 2007, 2008 in Flagstaff. its a nice
place to live
I come back soon.

Be sure to bring back plenty good German food and stay!