Winter in Prescott, AZ: Can You Handle It?

People hear Arizona and they think warm, but Prescott is a different story. Hello, hello, hello. I’m Diane, your local Prescott pickle lady. And I’m Randal, her trusty sidekick. We make videos to help people who are thinking about relocating to Prescott understand what it’s really like to live here. That’s right. Mhm. If you’re researching Prescat, Arizona winter, wondering does it snow in Prescat, Arizona, and trying to decide if the climate fits your lifestyle, this video is for you. We’re going to break down winter in Prescat, Arizona, snowfall, temperatures, livability, and whether it actually works for you. And make sure to stick around to the end because that’s where we’ll help you decide whether Prescat Winter is a deal breaker or actually a hidden advantage. So, the big question is, does it snow? Does it snow? Yes, it does. Yes, it snows. Is it right? It snows. It snows. Is it terrible snow? No. Is it Buffalo, New York snow? No. Well, we’ll talk more about what the snow is like, but what you need to understand is Prescott is about 5,000 ft above sea level. We’re about the same uh altitude as Denver. That’s right. So, that changes things. Yeah. Arizona. I mean, people think of Arizona as desert, but uh when you go 5,000 ft up, it changes things. It totally changes the uh the weather for sure. So, now that we’ve reset your expectations, let’s talk about how bad it really gets. So, how bad is it really? Not bad. It’s not bad at all. It’s not bad. Um on a bad winter, so to speak, we might have five snows. the entire winter. Yeah. This past winter, we only had two very light snowfalls, which we missed, by the way. We were out of town for it. We missed We missed all of it. We like snow days. We like snow days. I love winter. Actually, my favorite time of the year here in Prescuit is winter. And I’m from southern Louisiana. We’re from the deep south. So, give you some idea what we’re what we’re talking about. Typically, snow falls. I mean, we get maybe a couple of inches, maybe. Most of the time it’s half an inch to one inch overnight. It melts in the morning. I mean, it melts by the afternoon, I should say. Yeah. By the afternoon, it’s like it never happens, you know? You don’t need snow tires. You don’t need vehicle heaters. You don’t need special snow uh chains or anything like that. I don’t even know how the chain thing works. I had any chain things. We wouldn’t be able We had to do chains, we’d be in trouble. No change, no snow tires. You don’t have to plug your car in. None of that stuff. No, it’s uh pretty mild. uh we’ll have chilly temperatures in the morning like maybe 28 30 and then by noon 1:00 it’s up to 50 or 60 and most of that light snowfall has already melted. So now that’s typical. Yes. Okay people that’s typical right? Every now and then something weird happens. So in 2019 we had a snow we had almost two feet I think it was and they call it snowmageddon but it was a huge winter storm. Austin was knocked out completely. We had some friends from Prescuit who were visiting in Austin like their electricity was out. They were shut down for like a week and a half. I I don’t think Prescuit even broke a sweat. No, we uh had it all plowed and the next morning uh the city was back up and running again. So, absolutely no big deal. Yeah, no big deal. No big deal. You we have the salt, we have the sand, we have the plows, you know that we have the infrastructure. So in in every now and then when we get a decent a decent snowfall um you know they can handle it and snowmageddon was more snow that you had to go back to 19 the 1930s. Yeah to find that much snow in Prescuit. So that is a very unusual thing and it was actually kind of freaky. Yeah. Um so yeah as soon as there’s any snow predicted any at all everything’s the the plows are already out. Even if it’s just half an inch, those plows are out and running. Um, very rarely. We’re never like trapped at home for weeks and weeks or or blizzards or anything like that. We’re not shut down. You just So, that’s the snow. Let’s talk about whether you can live with the situation such as this. So, here’s the big question. Can you live with it? I think you can. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. the roads and mobility. I mean, how quickly are the main roads cleared and all that vary? Yeah. I mean, for the most part, they’ll they will plow uh they’ll start plowing as the snow comes down. By the time you get up, you’re not trapped. Yeah. They’re out like 4 in the morning. You’ll see them coming out in droves, all the snow plows. Um Yeah. So, they pretty much clear the main roads first and then all then they hit all the neighborhoods. Not an issue. And you’re not going to have the lingering snow pack or anything like that. When it melts, it melts all the way down. I mean, it’s gone. Once it’s gone, I mean, it looks like nothing ever happened. You’re not gonna have that special yellow snow or black snow from the cars that sit there for for months afterwards. Yeah. That goes away. So, not happen. And you’re not going to get stuck in your home. They’re they’re going to uh they’re going to plow it in. You’re not going to get stuck unless you make a bad choice of home. Now, if you get a a home with a really long uh steep driveway and you get some ice on there, you might want to stay home, right? You know, if your drive depending on which way your driveway is facing or if your driveway is in the shade, you know, it it you really have to you have to choose a home with the snow in mind. That being said, there aren’t many homes that you can’t live. No. And we will always guide you along the way and let you know this is a good driveway. This face is in the right direction. you won’t be having any snow that melts and becomes ice. Go for it. You don’t want to have a steep steep driveway that does not melt easily. Yeah. Because you want to be able to get to your mailbox. You want to bring your garbage cans down and get your car out. So, there you go. Yeah. So, you know, that’s that’s the snow that we have. Uh let us know in the comments. How much snow would be a deal breaker for you? We like actually like to find out. Yeah, I would too. So, I if if this amount of snow is a deal breaker, you want zero snow and we get that. But uh how much snow would be a deal breaker for you? Mhm. That is true. Yeah. So now let’s talk about what winter actually feels like. So you’re not going to be stuck in your home. What does it feel like when you’re out and about? When you’re out and about. It’s great. Uh honestly, because being from the deep south, we’re used to very damp, cold winters. Even though it’s 45, it just gets right through your bones. You’re you’re chilled to the bone. Yeah. Here it’s a dry cold. Yeah. So even if it’s 32, you could leave with like a heavy sweater on and not really feel it. Yeah. I mean, if you’re going to be out all day, you might want a little bit more. But honestly, it’s so dry, you really don’t feel it. If it’s in the 40s in New Orleans, you’re feeling it. You’re going to be cold. It’s going to cut through to your bones. But usually here, most days are very dry. And it just doesn’t bite. No. And it’s sunny. It’s also sunshiny. It’s not too gloomy. Um, you’re going to have blue blue sky, so you’ll wake up to a little bit of snow. Um, things are still open. Like most, uh, courses are still open depending on how how heavy the snow is. If it’s, uh, still sitting there, they might open later, but you can still, yeah, they’ll wait for the sun to come up and things warm up. That’s pretty much like Prescat Lakes and most of the the big communities with the golf courses, they they they have golf year round, uh, right? you can get out and hike and walk and, you know, as soon as it hits about 11 or noon, you’re golden. You’re good to get out. So, you’re not stuck. It’s not a big uh lifestyle impact on you. And it’s not depressing. No. You know, you don’t have cloudy days for a month and a half or anything like that. You really don’t. You might have a cloudy day, a cold day, a snow day, and like the next day it’s nice and sunny, beautiful again. A lot of times it gets up even into the 60s, you know. So, the key here is you don’t have to wear a lot of heavy heavy winter clothes or heavy boots or anything. We layer. We quickly learn you just layer and then when you’re chilly willy, you add a little sweater, then you take that off as it warms up. So, it’s not like you have to be bundled from head to toe uh all day long. Yeah. By by the afternoon, it’s warming up. So, you’re going to want to lose some uh some layers. Another good tip is uh February is vacation month. That’s right. So, February is probably our most wintry. There’s like a three-week period. Uh sometimes it’ll be a little rainy, a little more damp. Uh you’ll see a little more few drops of rain and a little bit overcast. So a lot of folks in February, like I’m out of here and going where it’s sunshine. Yeah, that’s right. And then in March, the sunshine comes back. So you know, you you’re pretty much golden. Yeah. So plan plan February in general is a good time to go on vacation because you miss all the crowds. So uh so that’s another tip for you. So, if you’re finding this information helpful, we would really appreciate it if you would take a moment to like this video. It really helps us out a lot. We would love for you to like and share and subscribe. And subscribe. Yeah. Chances are you know somebody who should really watch this video. If so, please pause and take a moment to share it with them right now before you forget. Yeah. Make sure you subscribe so you’ll get all of our new videos as soon as they come out. That’s right. Don’t miss out on any of the Prescuit scoop. That’s right. For sure. All right. So now the real question is should you actually move here? So this is the part we promised you helping you decide if Prescuit winter works for you. So who is winter perfect for here? You know I think winter would be perfect for snowbirds who’ve lived in really heavy heavy snow. You would probably consider our winter spring. Yeah, it’s kind of a kind of a Disney kind of a Disney winter. It’s kind of a Disney winter. Uh being from the deep south, we love it. It’s lovely. It’s just beautiful. Who doesn’t like sometimes to have a white Christmas? Yeah. Well, some people don’t. Some people don’t. You know, I I I I understand if you grew up shoveling sidewalks and you never want to see another flake of snow in your life, then it might not work for you. May not work out for you. But most people, I think, want like four seasons, four true seasons. It’s It’s really really nice, you know. It’s really nice. So, if you uh if you’re thinking about doing more than one house, like I have a summer house, so I escape the heat and a winter house uh to escape the the winter, uh you could do that. Or you can just live in Prescuit all year long because pretty much all the seasons here are nice. Yeah, I would agree with that. And we do have a lot of folks with two different homes. So, we can make it work for you, whatever you need. Yeah. So, we try to give you a clear picture of what winter is about, but winter is just one piece of whether Prescuit works for you. So, at this point, you’re probably thinking, “All right, this helps, but I still don’t know if I’d like to live in Prescuit.” This is exactly why we created the Prescott sanity check. It helps you evaluate whether Prescuit fits your lifestyle, your expectations, priorities, so you can make a confident decision. To get started, go to prescatscoop.com/sanity or just use the uh QR code that you see on the screen. If you’re comparing Prescuit to other places, you’ll want to watch our video on why California is choosing Prescuit over other cities. Please click the link on your screen to watch it now. In the meantime, we hope you found our video informative and fun, and we hope to see you next time. Bye bye.