English: The southwestern state of Arizona, United States, closed 2021 with snow, showers, and generally stormy weather. According to local media, falling temperatures brought snow to the high country and the northern part of the state on December 31, leaving large swaths of fresh snow to greet the dawn of the New Year on the morning of January 1, 2022. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the snowfall over northern Arizona on January 2.

The precipitation was a welcome event, bringing additional snow to a late-season start to the high-country ski season. The first heavy snowfall at the Arizona Snowball, near Flagstaff, was reported on December 10. The snowpack in the north and rain in the south also helped reduce the long-term drought the state has been suffering.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Arizona started 2021 with 100 percent of the state in long-term drought, and 93.86 of the state in “Extreme” (D3) drought conditions. A wet monsoon season (June 15-September 30) helped reduce the drought. Unfortunately, both Tucson and Phoenix had their 2nd warmest November (average temperature) on record, and the Tucson daily average temperature was consistently above normal. Several December storms added more precipitation across the state. Just a year later, on January 4, 2022, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that, although 100 percent of Arizona remains in long-term drought, the part of the state experiencing Extreme (D3) drought conditions dropped to 5.08 percent.