TUCSON, Ariz. -Wet, cold weather the day after Thanksgiving may be standard for a lot of the rest of the country, but not for us around here.
So how did people cope with this gray, Black Friday?
We get a little spoiled here in Southern Arizona. Weather that would be no big deal in the Northeast really kind of throws us off our game.
The Pima Sheriff's Department closed Mount Lemmon to anyone who doesn't live or work there.
Video from up on the mountain makes it clear why that's a good idea. Conditions have been just too wild and slippery.
In the town of Oracle, higher elevation also turned the rain to snow but people had an opportunity to appreciate it, and Michael Conway of Titan Power Sports and Rentals appreciated the potential boost to his business renting all-terrain vehicles.
"I think it's a little bit unusual to have this much snow right now. Typically that's a little bit later in the year but up here in Oracle we tend to get some snow. Last year we actually got a couple of feet of snow at one time and had lots of people up here sledding and having fun and there's always something fun to do here. It's a good escape from the desert floor."
The fun factor was not so high in some places.
Storm winds snapped power poles on Twin Peak Road near I-10.
A KGUN9 viewer in Sierra Vista sent images of wind damage to a Christmas Tree lot.
Rain drove high water over frequent flood locations like where the Pantano Wash crosses Harrison, or where Tanque Verde Loop crosses Tanque Verde Creek.
Weather added a gray overcast for Black Friday shoppers but did not stop them from hitting the stores.
Roxanne McHugh says, "You have to think of things you don't want to get wet like wrapping paper. So it makes it a little more challenging to go in and out of the stores without, you know, without, obviously getting things wet. But that's the main challenge for me. A shopper's a shopper. If you want the deal you're gonna go, right?
And reaction to weather like this, really can depend on what you're used to.
Katie Crouse grew up in New Hampshire but now she looks at weather like a Southern Arizonan. She says, “We were going to go out really early this morning and decided to wait until about what 10, one until the rain stopped so we decided not to go out too early.”
But Katie’s mom, Diane Welch says, “Doesn't bother me. I'm from New England."
