>>2792304The thing about the wikipedia official elevations is that they are only measuring the elevation of one spot in the downtown areas of inhabited places. NAU and several other areas of Flagstaff proper sit at 7,250-7,320 ft ASL (including the NAU stadium which is believed the highest in the US, beating out one in NM and WY just barely). Similariially, Pinetop-Lakeside ranges from 6,800-7,300 ft as well. While Fort Valley on the wiki is totally off, it sits at 7,420 ft and averages 84 inches of snowfall.
Slight topographic changes and proximity to geographic features leads to interesting snowfall and rainfall patterns, such that elevation cannot be counted on alone. Munds Park for example average 75 inches of snow at the same elevation as downtown Show Low (averages 20-30), and Porter mountain in Show Low averages about 80-100 inches even though it is just slightly higher than surrounding terrain. The main jetstreams in AZ flow either slightly NW or NE so the leading edges of terrain gets hit first. Another example is Payson getting the same precipitation as Williams and nearly the same snowfall as Show Low at much lower elevation, due to orographic lift of the Rim.
In theory mixed Ponderosa forest can grow on the plains for an extra 10,000 sq miles of land area in AZ but hasn't yet since the end of the ice age.
The highest paved roads in AZ are at roughly 9,350 ft (AZ Snowbowl) and 9,370 ft (AZ 273).
