Snow Covered Catalina Foothills – Winter Weather in Tucson

For the last two weeks my husband began the mostly cold mornings by going to the balcony with the expectation of seeing snow. Surprisingly low nighttime temperatures combined with a few days of respectable precipitation were drizzle for his imagination.

One morning he discovered a thin coat of snow on a neighbor’s roof and presented it as proof of his prognostic powers. But it was neither impressive nor convincing to me, as someone used to Russian and New York heavy snowfalls. I was waiting for the “real thing” — snow covered Santa Catalina Mountains.

However, from multiple conversations with native Tucsonans, the odds of seeing snow in Tucson are about once every seven years. As such, I kept my hopes under control but didn’t dampen my husband’s childlike excitement.

Well, he proved to be right.

Just yesterday we were enjoying an outdoor lunch at RA Sushi Bar in the La Encantada Shopping Center. The temperature was a tepid 75 degrees.

But today everything changed.

The snow was falling on our balcony and all around Alta Vista and the Foothills. I ran to the balcony in a t-shirt but immediately had to retreat for a sweater. Except for the mountain peaks, the snow melted upon hitting the ground but the view of falling snowflakes was exciting while it lasted.

To capture the moment, we took this picture of the snow covered Catalinas from our balcony. As winter continues, we hope we’ll have another chance to see snow in the mountains.

P.S. On January 22 we had a lucky chance to take more pictures: 

 

Cactus, covered by snow.

Breathtaking view of the Catalina Foothills from our balcony.

Winter Heaven at home.