12/8/2009 4:25:00 PM Intense storm rolls through Northern Arizona
VVN/Jon Pelletier
It's official - winter has arrived in Jerome. On Monday night, icy-cold winds turned what had been rainfall by day into a concoction of sleet, and finally a few inches of snow, during the overnight hours. The slush that had first accumulated on the sidewalks and roadways quickly became an ice sheet under the freshly fallen snow, making it difficult for commuters coming up, or going down, the mountain on Route 89A.
VERDE VALLEY -- It didn't take a weatherman to tell you Monday's storm that raced across Northern Arizona was powerful and the winds were icy and strong.
Tuesday turned sunny and warming, but snow was measured in feet above the rim, precipitation in inches below the rim, highways were blocked and power poles and trees downed.
The National Weather Service warned in advance that "blizzard" conditions were predicted, terminology rarely heard in Northern Arizona weather. Ken Daniel of the weather services says heavy precipitation was driven by winds that measured 40 to 50 miles per hour in the Verde Valley and gusts of hurricane speeds in places like Bellemont and Prescott. The wind speed at Crown King reached 77 mph.
Driving conditions were equally precarious.
Northbound Interstate-17 near Flagstaff was closed Monday night after being gridlocked for much of the day when a tractor-trailer slid onto its side north of the Sedona turnoff.
Interstate 40 was closed both directions from Flagstaff and Winslow. SR 260 was blocked eastbound from Camp Verde.
Coconino County DPS counted 100 slide-offs and scores of injuries and non-injury accidents. Half as many were reported in Yavapai County.
In the Verde Valley, trees and power poles snapped in the strong winds.
Lights were out when poles broke bringing down wires in Old Town Cottonwood and Clarkdale, Middle Verde, Fir Street in Cottonwood and on Mingus Mountain.
A transmission outage on Mingus meant there was no power for the TV transmission sites there.
There were downed trees in yards, and across streets.
The rainfall amounts were varied. Tuzigoot and Clarkdale recorded under a half inch. Camp Verde and Sedona received an inch and a half.
