The forests of northern Arizona and the Town of Payson this week imposed Stage 1 fire restrictions, barring outdoor fires and smoking except in developed campgrounds.
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ADOT Traffic Updates & Weather
Payson, AZ
Right Now
84°
Sunny
- Humidity: 11%
- Feels Like: 84°
- Heat Index: 84°
- Wind: 9 mph
- Wind Chill: 84°
- UV Index: 0 Low
- Sunrise: 05:20:21 AM
- Sunset: 07:23:19 PM
- Dew Point: 22°
- Visibility: 10 mi
Today
Mainly clear skies. Low 53F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight
Mainly clear skies. Low 53F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Tomorrow
Sunny. High 78F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Next 12 Hours
Time
Temp
Precip
5 PM
82°
0%
5 PM
82°
Wind: WSW @ 15 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 10%
Wind Chill: 82°
Heat Index: 82°
UV Index: 2 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
6 PM
80°
0%
6 PM
80°
Wind: WSW @ 15 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 10%
Wind Chill: 80°
Heat Index: 80°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
7 PM
77°
0%
7 PM
77°
Wind: WSW @ 12 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 11%
Wind Chill: 77°
Heat Index: 77°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
8 PM
72°
0%
8 PM
72°
Wind: WSW @ 8 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 14%
Wind Chill: 72°
Heat Index: 72°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
9 PM
70°
0%
9 PM
70°
Wind: SW @ 7 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 14%
Wind Chill: 70°
Heat Index: 70°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
10 PM
68°
0%
10 PM
68°
Wind: WSW @ 7 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 16%
Wind Chill: 68°
Heat Index: 68°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
11 PM
66°
0%
11 PM
66°
Wind: WSW @ 5 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 19%
Wind Chill: 66°
Heat Index: 66°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
12 AM
63°
0%
12 AM
63°
Wind: WSW @ 4 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 22%
Wind Chill: 63°
Heat Index: 63°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
1 AM
61°
0%
1 AM
61°
Wind: SW @ 3 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 23%
Wind Chill: 61°
Heat Index: 61°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
2 AM
59°
0%
2 AM
59°
Wind: SSW @ 3 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 26%
Wind Chill: 59°
Heat Index: 59°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
3 AM
57°
0%
3 AM
57°
Wind: S @ 3 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 27%
Wind Chill: 57°
Heat Index: 57°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
4 AM
55°
0%
4 AM
55°
Wind: S @ 3 mph
Precip: 0% Chance
Humidity: 27%
Wind Chill: 55°
Heat Index: 55°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
Weather Stories
The water’s splashing merrily down the East Verde River and Salt River Project’s reservoirs on the Salt and Verde River remain 72% full — barely below the same time last year.
The Salt River Project will start releasing water into Payson’s C.C. Cragin pipeline this week — and probably continue pumping through October, said SRP spokesperson Patricia Likens.
So we got your bad news.
It’s official: Winter is over, just in case you didn’t notice this week’s highs in the upper 70s.
Well, this is confusing.
I am sipping water, riding the chairlift up the snow-covered volcanic peak towering over Sunrise Ski Resort, when I notice the clouds.
The Payson school board received a “boardsmanship” award last week from the Arizona School Boards Association.
After nearly a decade of delay, the plan to save the 64,000-acre watershed of the C.C. Cragin Reservoir from crown fire is finally lumbering into motion.
Well, it’s official.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Caserta took off his protective helmet, walked beneath the spinning rear tail rotor of an a HM-60S helicopter at a Virginia naval station — and jumped into the air until the spinning rotor ended his torment.
Do you savor 105-degree days?
Sure enough: There they float.
A record-breaking monsoon and a wet December pulled much of the West out of extreme drought – but don’t get your hopes up.
The series of winter storms did Arizona reservoirs more good than predicted and eased the drought — but have still left the West in dire need of lots more of the same.
A hot, dry fall will likely lead to more of the same this winter, according to the National Weather Service — thanks to global warming and an increasingly serious La Niña.
October came out on the dry side in much of Arizona.
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So maybe not-normal is the new normal.
Reservoir levels on the Colorado River are falling faster than even the pessimists predicted, casting a long shadow over Arizona’s water supply.
The wonderfully wet monsoon is waning, with hot, dry conditions returning — with only the distant hope of another few, fragmented monsoon storms in the next two weeks.
Wallow in that lovely monsoon moisture.
Payson should have a break from a blessedly wet monsoon pattern this week, which will give a chance for residents to dry out and road crews to cope with the layers of mud.
From fires to floods, without a chance to catch your breath.
The 24,000-acre Bear Fire in the White Mountains near Clifton is 50% contained.
The Bootleg Fire in Southern Oregon has burned more than 550 square miles and sent a plume of superheated smoke and debris up to 45,000 feet.
A strong monsoon has given Arizona a break from a plague of wildfires, just in time for the rest of the West to catch fire.
Climate change is driving the heat waves scorching the West and killing hundreds of people, according to the results of a new study.
The drought’s got Arizona by the throat — and it’s still squeezing.
We’re getting closer.
The Payson School Board is happily confronting a shockingly rare dilemma.
Get ready now.
Pretty good news.
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Like a lover who missed Valentine’s Day, the laggard winter delivered repeated flurries of snow right on the brink of spring all across Arizona.
The Town of Payson braces for up to 24 inches of snow between Jan. 22 and 26 by warning residents to stock up on food and medical supplies and asks for patience with snow removal.
Tonto National Forest this week launched a 5,200-acre thinning project to protect Pine, Strawberry, Whispering Pines, Washington Park and a host of other communities from wildfire.
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Don’t let a few snow flurries get your hopes up — we’re still stuck in the kind of drought that likely caused civilizations across the Southwest to collapse six centuries ago.
After a longed-for storm dumped rain across the state, many national forests lifted fire restrictions — weeks after the fire season normally ends.
You think 2020 was tough.
The day has settled with a sigh toward dusk.
It’s got the weather man freaked out.
Arizona’s not on fire like California, Washington and Oregon.
“Exceptional” drought.
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Arizona’s long-delayed monsoon finally gusted into Rim Country last week, immediately tamping down the fire danger and blowing open the door to reopening the forest.
Arizona’s on fire, with no sign of a monsoon rescue yet massing on the horizon.
Arizona’s already hot and dry.
