When most people think of a big snowfall, they rarely think of Arizona—and particularly of Scottsdale. However, on February 21, 2019, we experienced such a record-setting event here at Red Bird Ranch.
That evening, about 5:30 pm, I returned home from a meeting at our church. By that time it was raining steadily in the Valley. As I approached the corner of Pima and Happy Valley Road, I noticed the outside temperature displayed on my truck dashboard showed 34 degrees Fahrenheit—quite cold for here, but still above freezing. As I approached the corner of Alma School Road and Jomax, the temperature had dropped to 32 degrees and a few snowflakes were forming in the rain. As I continued the two miles to our ranch near 118th and Jomax, the temperature decreased to 29 degrees, the rain had turned completely to snow and the roadway was turning white.
The climb to our ranch from the Valley seems imperceptible as you drive along the road, but this evening supplied indisputable proof that the steady increase in elevation creates a dramatic change in weather!
All that night, while a good deal of the Valley was receiving rain and some scattered areas experienced snow, the white stuff kept coming down and piling up at our place. In the morning we awoke to a winter wonderland and an amazing 10 inches!
Nicknamed the Valley of the Sun, this area hardly ever receives such weather. This was by far the biggest snowfall that I had seen at this elevation in my many years in Arizona. It reminded me of my childhood back in Arbon Valley, Idaho, where it really knows how to snow.
As always happens, the night of the snow, one of the heat pumps in our house went out and we were without heat that night in our bedroom wing. I called a good friend in our church who runs a heating/ac company and he generously agreed to come out early the next morning to take a look at the expired heat pump. However, he got stuck and could not get up the incline to our driveway due to the snow. And, before he got to work, he was so enthralled by the snow that he had to take photos with his camera to send back to his wife—since they only received a few inches at their place, which is only about five miles away.
About that same time we discovered that one of our large, beautiful Texas ebony trees in the front yard was split and a number of branches were laying on the ground. These trees do not lose their leaves in the winter and the heavy blanket of snow was too much for this dear old fellow. So, as my friend was working on the heat for the house, I was using my Sawz-All to cut fallen branches and haul them away.
However, things began to look up later that day. Thanks to our friend a new heat pump was installed and the house was soon warm again. Our Texas ebony tree was not as bad as it looked at first sight and could be saved. And Alene’s daughter and her kids arrived to enjoy the snow. So, far from tragic, the rest of the day was spent throwing snowballs and making snowmen.
The folks up north may not enjoy long winters or heavy snowfalls, but here in Arizona—especially at Red Bird Ranch—such an aberration of Nature is cause for celebration and lots of horseplay in the rarely seen snow!