PARKS, Ariz. โ A winter storm unleashed a heavy blanket of snow over northern Arizona on Friday, leading to a traffic bottleneck extending more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) along a significant stretch of highway.
Westbound travelers on Interstate 40 between the towns of Flagstaff and Williams faced a prolonged halt late on Friday as daylight faded. The stall persisted for several hours.
According to Bart Graves, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the accumulation of snow, compounded by a two-vehicle collision, was a primary contributor to the congestion.
โThe snow conditions prevented us from clearing it swiftly enough to restore the traffic flow,โ Graves explained.
While the crash resulted in an injury, Graves confirmed there were no fatalities recorded in the area due to the storm.
Some drivers engaged in inventive ways to pass the time and assist each other, with snowball fights breaking out and efforts to tether and pull vehicles from thick snow using tow straps and four-wheel-drive cars.
Marking the largest snowfall event of the winter period to date, the storm punctuated a dry spell that saw Flagstaff and numerous western cities experiencing below-average precipitation. Despite the recent snow and rain, they are expected to remain below the norm.
Snowfall varied across varying altitudes, from just a few inches in lower areas to accumulations topping a foot (30 centimeters) in Flagstaff and Munds Park. Williams, a locality to the west of Flagstaff, reported over two feet (60 centimeters) of snow, as per the National Weather Service.
The Arizona Snowbowl ski resort quipped online that โMiracle Marchโ was underway, hinting that visitors could expect a remarkable weekend of skiing conditions.
Additional roads also faced intermittent closures during the storm, including parts of Interstate 17 connecting Flagstaff to Phoenix. On U.S. 89 north of Flagstaff, traffic was snarled with vehicles experiencing slide-offs, with many motorists bringing their cars to a standstill on the icy pathways.
According to the weather service, the storm was anticipated to advance eastward out of the state by Saturday.