snow in Cottonwood/Camp Verde area? (Flagstaff, Prescott: place to live, car, trees)

[ny89mike]

does it snow in that area^^?

if so is it like Prescott where it snows and then melts right away or does it stay around?

[AZDesertBrat]

Originally Posted by ny89mike

does it snow in that area^^?

if so is it like Prescott where it snows and then melts right away or does it stay around?

No, not really. We might get a 'dusting' but it's gone right away. It does snow on Mingus Mountain and, sometimes, a little in Sedona but it's gone fast. Just enough to make it look pretty for a little while.

[keninaz]

And Prescott can get snows that last a few days or more too.
And the end of Dec last year we had an ice storm that laid a pretty good coating down and then it snowed on top of it and it was really hard to get up.
It was around over a week and then some.

[DellNec]

On average after most snowstorms, snow & ice will be on the ground for sure after sunset and through the morning, as temps usually dip into the teens and single digits at night. During the day the snow will melt after a day or two BUT as KeninAz stated, you can get times when the temps will NOT hit above freezing during the day for a couple of days. That is when trouble begins. Slip, sliding, crashing and falling becomes the norm, especially on inclines/declines. Car accidents galore after such a storm.

Of course, if you have a north facing street, the snow and ice can stick around for a few weeks. The last major snow storm we had, some streets were impassible for a week or two and power was out in a lot of the areas, especially in the pines.

In Cottonwood I believe you will not encounter as much snow. Camp Verde near the I-17 hill is a really bad spot as the elevation and mountains cause that road to get more snow and ice.

[ny89mike]

cottonwood sounded like a nice place to live, but i want lots of snow in the winter time.

[adventuregurl]

Originally Posted by ny89mike

cottonwood sounded like a nice place to live, but i want lots of snow in the winter time.

Often you will not see any snow there in a winter.

I haven't seen much in Camp Verde, in fact usually when leaving Sedona in bad snow for a long drive it stops just outside town on the way to Cottonwood and I don't see it again until maybe at the higher elevations on top of the mountain on the I17 heading south from Camp Verde.

In AZ, temperature (and snow) depends on altitude and Cottonwood is only about 3300 feet, snow usually happens at above 4,000+ feet.

[AZDesertBrat]

Originally Posted by ny89mike

cottonwood sounded like a nice place to live, but i want lots of snow in the winter time.

Sounds like you would like Flagstaff...or the White Mountains.

[DellNec]

Originally Posted by ny89mike

cottonwood sounded like a nice place to live, but i want lots of snow in the winter time.

Try Flagstaff or the White Mounains (Pinetop).

[ny89mike]

i found that graph under the Cottonwood city-data.com page.

how come it shows that it snows more than the average for the U.S.?

i guess those graphs aren't very accurate...

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by ny89mike

i found that graph under the Cottonwood city-data.com page.

how come it shows that it snows more than the average for the U.S.?

i guess those graphs aren't very accurate...

It shows more snow than average US, because there are over a million square miles in the US that get almost no snow at all. You would be better off comparing Cottonwood with a city that gets lots of snow, such as Fargo.

Think of it this way. In January, Cottonwood gets 12 inches of snow. That could be four three-inch storms, or six two-inch storms, or 12 one-inch storms. Put that way, it's not a lot of snow. A one-inch coverage will melt in a couple of hours, and probably won't even stick to the roads. The ground remains comparably warm in Cottonwood and helps to melt the snow. Up north, the ground is frozen and helps to keep the snow in place. Also, there is a lot of sunshine in Cottonwood and few trees to block the sunshine. After a snowstorm, the sky is bright and sunny. In Fargo, however, there are a lot of trees to block the sun, and the sky is overcast for weeks on end.