Sedona sits in a valley at 4,326 feet, about half way in elevation between the Colorado Plateau to the north and the low Sonoran Desert region to the southwest, and although closer in distance to the high country, has a generally mild climate.

Nighttime temperatures may dip below freezing at times for 3 months in winter, and snowfall has been recorded between November and April, but mostly this settles only on the surrounding mountains. Even in midwinter the days are often bright, sunny and not too cold. The temperature rises quickly during spring, and summer Sedona weather is usually hot, often too hot for long hikes in the warmest months of June, July and August, when typically 20 days a year exceed 100°F. The hottest temperature ever measured in Sedona was 110°F, recorded several times in later years, most recently in 2003.

The Sedona area is subject to frequent summer thunderstorms and heavy, if short lived, rainfall; thunderclouds typically begin to form late morning, darkening and covering the whole sky by mid afternoon, followed by the storm, but then clearing quite quickly so by sunset the skies may be completely clear once more. Floods may also occur occasionally during spring, if the temperatures rise quickly, causing faster than normal snowmelt from the high country to the north, which feeds Oak Creek and its tributaries. Though the greatest flood of recent times, on December 29th 2004, occurred just because of heavy rain, and the flow rate of Oak Creek increased from the average 50 cubic feet per second to 16,800 cfs. But such events are very rare, and the weather in Sedona is usually fine for visitors all days of the year.


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