Happy Jack, Arizona facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Happy Jack, Arizona
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 Happy Jack, Arizona
Location in Arizona
Happy Jack, Arizona
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Coconino |
| Elevation | 7,493 ft (2,284 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) |
| ZIP code |
86024
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| GNIS feature ID | 29736 |
Happy Jack is a small, quiet community in Coconino County, Arizona, in the United States. It's not a big city but a special place located in the beautiful Mogollon Rim area. You can find a large telescope called the Lowell Discovery Telescope here, which helps scientists learn about space! Happy Jack is also known for its lovely campground, a great spot for outdoor adventures. It's located southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, along Lake Mary Road.
Contents
A Look Back: Happy Jack's History
Happy Jack began in 1947 as a busy place for logging – cutting down trees for wood. It was a logging camp where many workers lived. The community also had a ranger station and a post office.
Growing and Moving
By 1948, about 300 people lived in Happy Jack. At its busiest, around 500 people called it home! The Saginaw and Manistee Lumber company built the town. In 1970, the community asked for a school to be built for its children.
About 30 years after it started, the first logging camp closed. The logging company decided to move Happy Jack about 13 miles closer to a place called Clints Well, starting around 1974. The Happy Jack post office also moved in 1983. It went about 15 miles down the road to an area known as Long Valley. This new post office is sometimes called Happy Jack Too. However, you won't find Long Valley on most maps.
How Happy Jack Got Its Name
The town was first built in a spot called Onion Flat. Its original name was "Yellowjacket." But there were already three other places named Yellowjacket, so a new name was needed for this growing community.
Two Stories Behind the Name
One idea is that Happy Jack was named after a cheerful local lumberman. He must have been a very happy person! Another story, from a newspaper, says that Ronald Rotty, who was in charge of the Coconino National Forest, named Happy Jack. He supposedly named it after an area in Wyoming where a bandit (a type of outlaw) named Happy Jack used to commit crimes. So, the name might come from a happy person or a famous bandit!
Climate and Weather
Happy Jack has a type of weather called a Continental climate. This means it usually has warm summers and cold, snowy winters. You can see more details about the temperatures and how much rain and snow Happy Jack gets in the chart below.
| Climate data for Happy Jack, Arizona (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1969–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 65 (18) |
76 (24) |
72 (22) |
76 (24) |
87 (31) |
97 (36) |
94 (34) |
92 (33) |
88 (31) |
80 (27) |
71 (22) |
70 (21) |
97 (36) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 54.3 (12.4) |
56.9 (13.8) |
62.2 (16.8) |
69.3 (20.7) |
77.3 (25.2) |
86.3 (30.2) |
87.7 (30.9) |
84.6 (29.2) |
79.8 (26.6) |
72.7 (22.6) |
64.8 (18.2) |
56.3 (13.5) |
88.8 (31.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 40.4 (4.7) |
42.2 (5.7) |
48.7 (9.3) |
55.6 (13.1) |
64.9 (18.3) |
75.2 (24.0) |
78.3 (25.7) |
75.4 (24.1) |
70.5 (21.4) |
60.6 (15.9) |
49.7 (9.8) |
40.7 (4.8) |
58.5 (14.7) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 29.7 (−1.3) |
31.3 (−0.4) |
36.8 (2.7) |
42.5 (5.8) |
50.3 (10.2) |
59.3 (15.2) |
64.9 (18.3) |
63.2 (17.3) |
57.1 (13.9) |
47.2 (8.4) |
37.4 (3.0) |
29.8 (−1.2) |
45.8 (7.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 18.9 (−7.3) |
20.4 (−6.4) |
24.9 (−3.9) |
29.4 (−1.4) |
35.8 (2.1) |
43.4 (6.3) |
51.4 (10.8) |
51.0 (10.6) |
43.8 (6.6) |
33.9 (1.1) |
25.1 (−3.8) |
18.8 (−7.3) |
33.1 (0.6) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −0.8 (−18.2) |
3.7 (−15.7) |
8.1 (−13.3) |
17.3 (−8.2) |
23.5 (−4.7) |
30.8 (−0.7) |
41.0 (5.0) |
41.8 (5.4) |
32.0 (0.0) |
20.0 (−6.7) |
8.8 (−12.9) |
−0.1 (−17.8) |
−5.1 (−20.6) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −35 (−37) |
−16 (−27) |
−12 (−24) |
−2 (−19) |
12 (−11) |
22 (−6) |
31 (−1) |
30 (−1) |
23 (−5) |
0 (−18) |
−5 (−21) |
−27 (−33) |
−35 (−37) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.97 (75) |
2.93 (74) |
2.53 (64) |
1.00 (25) |
0.81 (21) |
0.34 (8.6) |
2.55 (65) |
3.15 (80) |
1.99 (51) |
1.48 (38) |
1.70 (43) |
2.60 (66) |
24.05 (611) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 13.8 (35) |
20.6 (52) |
8.1 (21) |
5.2 (13) |
0.9 (2.3) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
1.0 (2.5) |
5.8 (15) |
14.3 (36) |
69.7 (176.8) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch) | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 9.9 | 11.5 | 5.5 | 4.0 | 2.7 | 4.3 | 57.6 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 inch) | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 15.4 |
| Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | |||||||||||||
