Snow in Flagstaff in April?

February 11, 2009 4:57 PM

We're thinking of visiting Flagstaff, Arizona in April... what is the danger of snow?

My wife and I were thinking of traveling to the Flagstaff area to see canyons and pueblos. I have time blocked off for the week of April 20th. After doing some more research, it seems like it will be fairly cold there still due to the altitude. We'll be coming from Maine and seeing snow would be somewhat disheartening. Is there likely to be a lot of snow on the ground still, and will there be growing green things at that point, or are things still pretty dead?

If the latter, any suggestions for a warmer, more spring-y destination with a similar canyon/pueblo profile? Or will I have to resign myself to seeing such things another time?

posted by selfnoise to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

nah, it'll be nice and if not just drive down/south through the beautiful Oak Creek canyon down to Sedona where there is pretty much never snow. Its ~60 minutes from flagstaff of slow canyon driving.
posted by H. Roark at 5:42 PM on February 11

Arizona is a little lean on pueblos. Perhaps you are thinking you would like to see cliff dwellings or ruins?

If you want to visit multiple pueblos Albuquerque will be much more convenient. Overall I would say the canyons are more interesting in AZ though.
posted by yohko at 5:49 PM on February 11

According to the parks service, there are Pueblos in Arizona. You may be thinking of inhabited Pueblos.
posted by selfnoise at 5:58 PM on February 11

This says there's an 81% chance of there being 1inch of snow. I'm going through there in April and I don't think it will be too bad. Wupatki/Sunset Crater is really beautiful. I second that.
posted by sleepytako at 6:28 PM on February 11

Er, just as a counter-anecdote: I got stranded in 10 inches of snow in Sedona a few years ago. In April.

But it was glorious.
posted by hippugeek at 7:11 PM on February 11

Ah, guess that´s a slight regional word difference between NM and AZ then, ´round these parts I only hear the word used to refer to places where people live. Inhabited is assumed and unstated. Looks like you have some interesting things to see there, you might also check out Walnut Canyon National Monument near Flagstaff.
posted by yohko at 8:42 PM on February 11

Hi . I live here in Flagstaff. It will be slightly warm, cold in the nights with a very slight chance of snow.
The leaves will not be budding, but it will feel spring like.

Advise on where to visit to see amazing things and not just tourist things, mefimail me.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 8:55 PM on February 11

I did get snowed on in Moab in late April once.

But you're talking about a pretty wide range of elevations. It's 4600'-ish up on the UT-AZ border (Valley of the Gods) to 7000'-ish in Flagstaff. From the website you linked: "Due to its lower elevation, Wupatki is usually 10 to 20 degrees warmer than Flagstaff or the other Flagstaff Area National Monuments (Sunset Crater Volcano and Walnut Canyon)." So maybe you could base your trip out of one of the other cities, like Sedona (4400'). If you really want a day of warmth, you could always drive down to Phoenix.

a warmer, more spring-y destination with a similar canyon/pueblo profile

I looked up a few places that are closer to other airports but didn't find anything warmer (eg, Ghost Ranch: 6800'). I'll be interested to hear whether anyone else knows of any.
posted by salvia at 1:33 AM on February 12