Since spring NOBO departure dates are approaching for many (me included) I thought it might be useful to have a few posts about what to expect. I will put in a few posts before I depart and maybe some later in the year to cover when the big heat arrives and when summer might be ending (unless I am out hiking that is). Anyone should feel free to add in useful data.

Feb21 - Well here we are almost done with winter and having gone almost the entire winter way above average in temps and virtually zero snow. Well that has changed a lot in the last week or so. There has been significant snow north of the Mogollon Rim which takes you to the high country which starts just north of Pine, AZ. It was 3 below zero last night at the Grand Canyon South Rim and single digits in Flagstaff. The packed base at the ski resort you walk by north of Flagstaff is 26" today. I can find no data on snow levels at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (all facilities are closed) but I would expect it is 2-3 feet at least. Through the end of the month Flagstaff has 3 more days for which snow is forecast.

Down south it has also snowed a fair amount and the ski resort on Mt Lemon is open and Summerhaven next door has about 6 inches on the ground looking at the camera there. Low temperatures on the top of the Catalinas (Mt Lemon/Summerhaven) for tomorrow night are supposed to be about 15 deg with a windchill of zero deg. There is no way to get any kind of report for what the top of the Rincon's, Santa Rita's, and the Huachuca's are like but one would expect that they have some level of snow right now. Especially on the north sides. Low temperatures for them right now should be a bit warmer than the Catalinas but not a lot - estimate in the mid-20's with a wind chill near single digits. Summerhaven is forecast to have rain and snow on the 28th.

AZ is expected to start warming back up in a few days to near normal - about 71 deg is normal for Phoenix/Tuscon this time of year. But they are among the hottest places along the trail so don't be fooled.

Best guess for 1 March is that it will be below freezing at night if you are near the mountain tops south of Tuscon and that the days will be perfect hiking weather once the sun takes the chill off the morning nippyness.