Image: Arizona Snowbowl from their Twitter feed.
Arizona Snowbowl, the largest ski resort in Arizona, received an early taste of winter on August 31, as temperatures plummeted along with a cold front that delivered a mix of ice and snow, 82 days ahead of the resort’s planned opening.
“Believe it or not, but Arizona logged its first snowfall of the season on August 31, 2024,” reported Powder.com. “The state’s largest ski resort, Arizona Snowbowl, took to social media to celebrate the occasion with a video of the accumulated flakes.
“Snowbowl joins an exclusive list of ski resorts in Lake Tahoe, Canada, Wyoming, and Montana to have logged their first snowfalls of the season in August,” Powder.com continued. “It’s an extremely rare occasion, and one that many skiers are hoping bodes well for the upcoming season.”
The National Weather Service office in Flagstaff said that the precipitation that Snowbowl received was likely more ice than snow, although temperatures were cold enough to produce snow.
The snow came less than three months after Snowbowl closed for the summer after celebrating its longest, most extended ski season ever.
“The snowfall … comes less than three months after the longest winter season ever at Snowbowl, as they were open until June 1,” reported 12 News, Phoenix. “That was the first time the resort had ever been open in June.
“They were able to stay open thanks to 281 inches, or 23 feet and five inches, of snowfall last winter,” 12 News said. “Snowbowl was one of just four ski resorts in the United States that were able to stay open into June.”