Has northern Arizona snow helped push back the fire season?

FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) — Northern Arizona snowstorms have finally brought much-needed snow to Flagstaff after a dry start to the winter, and the state is just months away from fire season.

National Weather Service said Flagstaff is above average for snow in March, which is great, but it’s just a Band-Aid because overall we are still below average.

Angie Fish has lived in Flagstaff for two decades. She said she’s seen dry years in the past, but the lack of precipitation this year has her worried. “I have multiple concerns,” Fish said. “My first concern would be fire danger in the upcoming year.”

Thankfully, Flagstaff and many other areas across the High Country saw significant snow last week.

“We’re like, should we drink champagne?” Fish said. “I’m not joking! That’s how excited I was.”

Megan Taylor with the National Weather Service said the precipitation helps for now.

“We ended up with just under 19 inches of snow with that last storm,” Taylor said. “It’s much-needed moisture. We definitely need it.”

But Flagstaff is still well below the average for this time of the year. Usually, Flagstaff has about 70 inches of snow, but this year, there have only been 33 inches.

“Unfortunately, as far as the season goes, we’re still about 3 ½ feet below normal,” Taylor said.

She said that as for the wildfire season, it all depends on spring weather.

“We’ve seen seasons where we don’t have a great snowpack, but we have a pretty wet and cold spring, and that can mitigate the wildfire risk,” Taylor said.

However, the forecast shows drier and hotter trends with La Niña.

“We are looking at above-normal wildfire potential by the month of May,” Taylor said.

Fish said for now, she’s content with the snow we have.

“When snow season is great, and it’s spring break in so many places in Arizona, I’m really pleased for our economy,” she said.

Another storm will be hitting Thursday. Taylor said the brunt will be from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., so make sure you prepare today.

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