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The cliché is that Sedona enjoys four mild seasons. Never very cold nor unbearably hot. The popular image of Arizona is Phoenix and the Sonoran Desert. That image is accurate for much of the state, but overlooks the third of Arizona that is forested alpine high country. Sedona’s climate can be better described as semi-arid than desert. In Arizona altitude is the primary determiner of climate. Phoenix, a hundred miles or so to the south, is well below 2,000 feet. Flagstaff, thirty-five miles north, is 7,000 feet high and has a climate much like that of Colorado’s Front Range with aspen and pines. At 4,000-4,500 feet, we’re a midway point both in altitude and climate.

Generally Sedona seems to be about 12 to15 degrees cooler than Phoenix and probably 12-15 degrees or so warmer than Flagstaff. The official average high temperature in our coldest month, January, is 55 degrees with 29.7 as the mean low temperature. With relatively low humidity, that usually translates into sweater weather during the day and light jacket at night. This past January, we had several stretches of days in the 60’s balanced with two or three snowy days. The warmest month is July with an average high of 95.1 and low of 65.1. It does creep into the low 100’s when you see Phoenix on the news at 122, but 104 in Arizona’s low humidity is considerably more comfortable than 94 in New York. Plus notice the 30 degree drop in temperature at night. Even on the hottest days, the nights are cool.

The rainfall averages 17.15 inches per year, enough to support a nice blend of vegetation from brightly flowering yucca to pinion pines and juniper trees to cottonwood and sycamores by the river. Don’t expect to see the big saguaro cactus up here, that’s classic Sonoran Desert which starts about half way to Phoenix.