AZ Strip weather

T

theridge

Guest
Last I heard the strip hadn't received any moisture in 120 days. Has that changed in the last few weeks? Is it drought situation yet? Thanks
 
There has been no snow pack in the mountains here in Arizona....I mean NONE. It has been the worst year since
records have been kept. My friend from Oregon who has 9 bonus points is not applying this year. Hes just gonna buy the bonus point.
 
I guess it's my imagination that the strip received a record amount of rain last year??? So I guess my question is wnen was the last time the Strip received rain and how much?
 
We need to get some St. George boys to answer that question. The Strip gets weather that we never see down here in S AZ.
 
Drought causing alarm in Arizona; snow measuring sites are bare
By The Associated Press Saturday, March 04, 2006



PHOENIX (AP) -- Arizona's driest winter in at least 65 years is causing alarm among scientists and government agencies, who say it has no precedent.

Twenty-nine of 34 snow measuring sites monitored by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service had no snow -- the barest the survey sites have been going back to the earliest records in the late 1930s.

"Arizona is off the bottom of the charts," said Tom Pagano, a hydrologist for the service in Portland, Ore. "This year is unlike anything we've ever seen before."

A survey team scouting for snow this week in the San Francisco Peaks outside Flagstaff found just 4 inches where there should have been more than 50.
Snowpack is critical for Arizona's water supplies, feeding the streams and reservoirs that supply Phoenix, Flagstaff and dozens of other communities.

"We were all thinking that 2002 had been a once-in-a-lifetime event, that it would never happen again," Pagano said of what was thought of as the driest year ever. "So far, this year is worse than 2002."

Friday marked the 136th consecutive day without rain at Sky Harbor International Airport.

"We just never had a snowpack," said Larry Martinez, water supply specialist for the NRCS Phoenix office. "It just never developed."

The U.S. Forest Service imposed restrictions in four areas last month, the earliest the agency had ever taken such steps. Forest closures are possible by spring.

Jim deVos, research chief for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said the drought is expected to take a heavy toll on wildlife. Air quality has also been hurt because there has been no rain to wash pollution out of the atmosphere

ProHunter
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
 
I never thought it was that bad!
I'll do A RAIN DANCE!
maybe you guys will get good monsoonal(?)rains!
They'er saying above normal hurricane season for the west!
rm
 
It better hurry and get here if it is going to help the antler growth this year. Probably already too late, just as well not even put in this year!
 
Southwest suffers historic drought
In Phoenix, 4 months without a drop of rain; regional outlook bleak
By Patrick O'Driscoll
USA TODAY

DENVER ? One of the driest winters ever in the Southwest is killing trees and plants, stressing wildlife, choking the air in Phoenix and leaving much of the region prone to severe wildfire.

The spring outlook is no better. The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center forecasts below-normal precipitation through May across the South and Southwest, from Alabama to California. The worst is expected in Arizona and New Mexico.

Today marks a record 139th straight day without a drop of rain in Phoenix. The National Drought Monitor, which tracks national conditions weekly, says Tucson is so dry that some homeowners are watering cactus and other desert plants ?to keep them alive.?

The dryness is moving north. The Drought Monitor lists abnormal dryness or moderate to severe drought for all of Kansas; most of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois; and much of South Dakota and eastern Colorado. The monitor also reports soil moisture in Nebraska is so low that farmers have begun irrigating months ahead of normal. Most of the Texas Panhandle winter wheat crop is in peril.

Phoenix had no rain from November through February for the first time in history. Santa Fe had its driest winter since 1890, with only 0.27 inches of rain since November.

?What can you say? It's been a historical winter that wasn't,? says Joe Garcia of the 1.1-million-acre Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico, where one ski area never opened and the other operates on man-made snow.

The climate center expects higher spring temperatures from Texas to Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California.

Texas and Oklahoma suffered fierce winter grassfires that scorched thousands of acres, destroyed about 500 homes and killed at least five people. More fires broke out last week.

The dryness and warmth have been heightened by La Nia, a weather pattern that sends more storms to the Northwest but fewer across the southern USA.

Winter fires have hit Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, which had a 26,500-acre blaze last week. It is so dry that a small fire Saturday outside Boulder, Colo., may have been sparked by gunfire.

Drought has plagued parts of the West for a decade. Arizona got a reprieve last winter as heavy snow and rain refilled reservoirs on the Salt River that supply Phoenix. But the forest watershed upstream is tinder-dry. Five of 11 national forests in Arizona and New Mexico have posted summer-style bans on open fires and camp stoves.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department has begun hauling water to wildlife herds as winter has failed to replenish remote watering holes. With no moisture to keep the dust down, air quality in Phoenix has worsened to unprecedented winter levels: 24 pollution alerts since Nov. 1. One or two is normal.

?It's off the charts, more advisories than we've issued in the past five years combined,? says Steven Owens, head of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality

ProHunter
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
 
It's lookin bad now.. We are maby going to get some rain/snow in the next few days.At least thats what thay say(fingers crossed!) Oh ya! I live in prescott. elkay
 
I sure hope you do for the animals sake. You've got me thinking of just doing the points this year. Just have to wait and see, maybe you'll get a wet spring. Here in NV we're above normal again. Two years in row, snowing again as I type this.

----------------------------------------
Measure wealth by the things you have,, for which you would not take money.
 
It's snowing like a bugger out there today. We even got a little snow in St. George. I'm sure this storm won't add much to the water table, but it couldn't hurt either. Consider the "drought" still on.
 
I feel for you AZ guys , but we haven't got much snow here in NM either . We too are in dangerous condition and in serious need of moisture ....I hope the storms drop some , but the wind has been pretty bad here last couple days , drys out any moisture before any absorbtion and blows away the storm clouds....
 
rainin cats and dogs down here in pheonix today. Heard some good snow up the northern part of the state as well.
 
28 inches of snow, and still snowing at my parents cabin outside payson... Little late, but very needed.
 
Rained and snowed all weekend. First photo is of the mountains just below Pinevalley mountain which is North of St. George. The second picture is of the Arizona strip just East of Mesquite, Nevada. I just took the second picture (1:45 pm Monday 3/13/06) Some moisture is better than none at all.
 
4415e8b305fbd67b.jpg

Taken Sunday March 12th of the Pine Valley Mountains just north of St. George, Utah.
4415e8e9063e4bdf.jpg

Taken Monday March 13th.
Sorry about the first post of the Arizona Strip just east of Mesquite, Nevada. First time posting photos
 
How much snow in the highest elevations? Also, as far as antler growth, will the 4 month spell without moisture effect next years antler growth even if we continue to have normal or above normal precept.?? Seems to me after last years incredible moisture, that as long as we have good rains now thru August antler growth should be good. What do you think?
 
I don't think the deer on the strip will even notice any difference. They are used to living in dry conditions and they know exactly where every water hole is. The range is in good condition with lots of bitter brush and other browse to eat and the deer don't have any problem moving around to find better feed and water. I'm sure they will grow great antlers again this year and I'm sure the lucky few hunters that get tags for this area will harvest some MonsterMuleys - just like every year.
 
I went out yesterday and got into alot of snow. It was 16" deep at little wolf pass elevation 5405'. I even got stuck for a minute turning around. My original plan was to go to the top of Black Rock Mtn. But the snow was to deep. Didn't see a single soul out there, I love it.
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom