Posted on 02/16/2008 2:45:57 PM PST by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — A winter storm lingered over Cochise County on Friday, bringing flurries of snow and splashes of rain.
The cool weather, however, brought little measurable precipitation through 9:30 p.m. on Friday. And there were few reported problems due to the weather.
At the Libby Army Airfield on Fort Huachuca, a National Weather Service monitoring station had measured just 0.11 of an inch of precipitation for the 12-hour period starting at about 6 a.m.
At the Sierra Vista fire station on Fry Boulevard, only a trace of rain was recorded in the 24-hour period ending at 6 p.m. on Friday, according to Accuweather.
And at the Bisbee Douglas International Airport, 0.11 of an inch of precipitation was measured for the six-hour period ending at about 5 p.m.
The storm did bring daytime flurries, though at the lower elevations the snow didn’t stick on the ground. At the higher elevations, such as near the Mule Pass Tunnel just west of Bisbee and in the Huachuca Mountains outside Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca, snow did accumulate.
Winds didn’t pick up as strong as Thursday, where 50 mph gusts were measured in the Sierra Vista area. On Friday, gusts were measured as high as 45 mph at the Bisbee Douglas International Airport at about 9 a.m., but those tapered off as the day progressed, with no gusts measured in the evening.
At Libby Army Airfield, the wind gusts were in the 30s as late as about 10:30 a.m., but got no higher through 9 p.m. on Friday.
Wind chill also played a role in the storm. At about 10:40 a.m., a wind chill of 22 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded at Libby Army Airfield. The wind chill stayed in the 20s for the next two hours.
Wind chills in the 30s were reported at the Bisbee Douglas International Airport between about 12:30 and 7 p.m.
Law enforcement and emergency agencies reported few problems due to the chilly and scenic weather on Friday. The Arizona Department of Public Safety reported some issues on Interstate 10 west of Benson, as did a driver going through that area around 5 p.m. The driver reported snowy weather.
The Arizona Department of Transportation’s road conditions Web site reported winter storm alerts for the Texas Canyon area east of Benson, as well as highways 80, 90 and 92.
The National Weather Service said a winter storm warning was in effect through 7 a.m. on Saturday above 3,000 feet, which includes the Sierra Vista and Bisbee areas.
A slight chance of snow remained in effect though today, though it was expected to clear by the night as the last remnants of the storm move out of the area, the weather service said.
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