Snowfall -- how can this be? (Flagstaff, Prescott: school, car, rated)

[keninaz]

OK, so my 18-22" of snowfall I have recorded here in the last two years is not totally out of line with what my neighbor have told me and what you are saying.
In accordance with what you are posting, assuming it's an accurate source, 18-22" of snowfall per year here is well within range.
I think the important thing here for the original poster is this~ I have not lived in MN but I have met many that have lived up in that area that either snowbirded here or moved here in retirement.
I suspect from what they have said that as your average temps are lower than here by quite a bit that your snow stays on the ground much longer than ours.
That to me makes a vary large difference.
The bottom line for me is that I am retired and I don't have to go out in it anyway unless I want to. Just one of the benefits of being retired I guess.

[DellNec]

Originally Posted by keninaz

OK, so my 18-22" of snowfall I have recorded here in the last two years is not totally out of line with what my neighbor have told me and what you are saying.
In accordance with what you are posting, assuming it's an accurate source, 18-22" of snowfall per year here is well within range.

Actually, the average for those 40 years showed it to be 32.5" of annual snowfall. The 18"-22" of snowfall you mentioned is below average.

We are in a serious drought in Prescott, mostly due to the lack of snowfall. The snow melt provides a slow replenishing and saturates the ground properly.

In the summer, the monsoons come down to quick and most of the water gets washed away and cannot saturate the ground.

[keninaz]

OK, so what, you are quoting an unknown source from 1915 to 1954.
Don't you think that perhaps a climate change can occur in 56 years? The only people that I know that don't care about the last 56 years right now are the SF Giants who just won the Series after 56 years.
Also, I already told you and you have ignored it, that according to the WX service we are above normal 30 year (recently averaged 30 years thank you) of rain fall.
I have 19.06" of rain at my house right now for the near, and most of that did not come in the monsoon season either.
I could give you a month by month breakdown but I don't think it would matter to you.
And yes, my WX instrument is the same that many cities use to report to the National WX service, a Davis Vantage Pro 2. It's quite accurate.
Will we get more snow this year? Who knows.
But I have noted in your other posts you like to argue.

[Randall999]

Would you all mind if when winter comes I come back to this thread / forum and ask a few of you to post a photo or two of the snow on the ground? I am just really confused. "Snowfall" is a confusing term-- does it mean snow depth on the ground, or total snowfall that has fallen for the season, etc.-- so what really counts is seeing what is on the ground in Feb, Mar, April.

I am so sick of shoveling and snowblowing snow up here in Duluth MN, those statistics I see for Duluth seem really odd too, because I will be glad so share photos of my yard this winter and most of winter I am looking at two feet to three feet of snow at the peak, with many winter storms dumping 1-2+ feet of snow. Temperatures here are BRUTAL in late Jan and early Feb-- we generally have a stretch of 3 weeks of temps generally MINUS 30 degrees, yes you read right, 3 weeks of -20F to -30F, even -40F-- so cold we play games with the cold-- using a bananna as a hammer, or you can throw a cup of hot coffee in the air and it falls as ice crystals almost instantly, the car seats feel like concrete, just brutal. So I know Prescott must have a warmer winter, I just do not want to move somewhere where I have to do constant shoveling and snowblowing again. That said I *do* like the notion of Prescott having some snow, and pine trees--- gives me some semblance of Minnesota hopefully without the extremes in temperature and snowfall.

On a side note-- today I am watching the movie Nobody's Fool (1992, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Roberts), much of it filmed in and around Prescott I believe? Beautiful scenery, shots.
~randall

[keninaz]

OK, I don't have the photos I have taken on my computer but I will get some from the wife's and post them.
I can tell you this~we have been here two winters now and the most we have seen on the ground at one time was about 10" or so in our driveway. That was from one storm, overnight with no snow on the ground the day before. That snowfall, according to my neighbors who have been here fro many years was unusual to be that deep at one time.
It stayed on the ground the longest. Most was gone with a day or two with a little lingering where it got piled for a week off the roads and in the shade.
For the most part, when we get snow it's around 2" at most and does not last long on the ground, at least so far.
I will post some photos shortly, or try anyway.

[Randall999]

That is sounding really good. Really good. That is the kind of snow and weather I think I could deal with, and would actually LIKE. I really do like a season with a little snow, autumn, long sleeve shirt weather, and a jacket, put on some egg nog, you know, then have the snow get the heck out of Dodge City (Prescott) in the Spring (when is the snow pretty much gone for the year? March? Up here in Duluth there is snow on the ground until early May, that really is too long).

Originally Posted by keninaz

...I can tell you this~we have been here two winters now and the most we have seen on the ground at one time was about 10" or so in our driveway. That was from one storm, overnight with no snow on the ground the day before. That snowfall, according to my neighbors who have been here fro many years was unusual to be that deep at one time. It stayed on the ground the longest. Most was gone with a day or two with a little lingering where it got piled for a week off the roads and in the shade. For the most part, when we get snow it's around 2" at most and does not last long on the ground, at least so far. I will post some photos shortly, or try anyway.

[keninaz]

OK, this was the heaviest snow we have seen here so far, the one that stayed with us for a few days. In our driveway it was about 10" deep.



And this one, taken from our driveway (and about the same location on a different date and storm) is about the normal snowfall that we get a few times during the season. You can see by the footprints that it's not all that deep. This type of snowfall is one day, a few hours at best and does not stay on the ground.
In the first one, while it looks deep you can see in the distance on the creek bridge that it's not all that deep.

[keninaz]

We really like the WX here and the four seasons. Summers can hit in the 90s but it does not last long and it cools at night due to the elevation. Here is a snapshot of our average WX as shown on the internet.
Average Weather for Prescott, AZ - Temperature and Precipitation

If you need further information let me know I would be glad to help if I can.
I can also send you a few pix of the area via email if you like.
Send me a private message and I can send you my email address if you wish.

[Randall999]

Thank you so much. Wow, that really looks nice. I put together a google doc on Prescott with all this info I am accumulating, it seems to have just about everything I could want. Except for spiders, scorpions, and snakes-- I will have to find a way to get over a fear of those, or put in a snake proof fence in the yard and spray for spiders or whatever-- I have not seen a snake for 30 years, too cold here, and no scorpions, and no poisonous spiders just little harmless daddy long legs now and then. I like the idea that the snow is never too deep in Prescott, and that is usually melts soon after a snowfall.

When is the snow pretty much gone for the season-- March?
randall

[keninaz]

I will assume that we have snakes here but not near as many as we had when I lived at the lower elevations or so it seems.
I spend a lot of time in the forests that we are surrounded by here and at a local lake fishing and have not seen a snake yet.
Same for spiders. tarantulas and scorpions are at lower elevations but don't seem to be here, or at least I have not seen them.
And March is pretty much a cutoff for snow in some cases. But I have seen snow in AZ in other locations up into April and May.
Locals tell me years ago they had snow once, very lite I assume, in late May or early June one year.
The elevations in Prescott proper very quite a bit, I am at 5400' at my home. If you drive 4 miles to my favorite lake here you gain another 600' and it snows harder up there in the national forest.
The first snow seems to come around Thanksgiving and I cannot wait.
I did send you some emails via this forum, assuming they got through and I did it right.