Remote Surveillance Trailer in Flagstaff, AZ

FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) — Route 66 has never met an oversized roadside novelty it didn’t like.

Giant jackrabbits? Check. Giant hot dogs? Check. Giant everything, really. So maybe it was only a matter of time before someone plopped down a giant block of cheese in northern Arizona.

Enter the Cheeseside Attraction: a replica of a Tillamook Medium Cheddar “Baby Loaf,” scaled up to roughly 32,000 times its normal size, that now looms outside the Americana Motor Hotel in Flagstaff.

Never mind that Tillamook is an Oregon cheese brand with no real connection to Route 66 (The highway doesn’t even pass through Oregon). Logic melted away in favor of a good bit, and the giant cheddar loaf now anchors the Route 66 Cheese Trail, a string of oversized dairy landmarks dotted along the historic highway.

The giant cheese made its official debut Saturday, complete with free samples and a limited-time menu at the hotel’s Far Out Food window.

So what’s actually going on at the hotel?

If you missed the unveiling, don’t stress because it turns out the cheese block is just the appetizer.

The full Tillamook takeover runs through September 7, and it comes with some perks:

For anyone ready to fully commit to the bit, the Americana Motor Hotel has a Tillamook-themed room available through September 7 with a two-night minimum stay required.

The room can be booked by calling the hotel directly at 928-833-3060. Sounds like a melt-worthy way to spend a weekend.

Just driving through? There’s cheese for that too

Anyone passing through Flagstaff September 4–6, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., can swing by for free samples while supplies last.

Is a two-story block of cheddar worth an actual detour? That’s a personal call. But if you’re already cruising I-40 near Flagstaff this weekend, there’s now a giant block of cheese waiting to be photographed.

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Hourly forecast

Flagstaff air quality index (AQI⁺) forecast

Flagstaff air quality index (AQI⁺) forecast

Air pollutants

What is the current air quality in Flagstaff?

Health recommendations

Air Purifiers

Historic air quality near Flagstaff

History

The Brief

Flagstaff residents are getting ready for another round of severe weather after heavy rain turned local streets into rushing rivers.

To keep everyone on high alert, the National Weather Service has a flash flood watch running for all of Northern Arizona through midnight Wednesday, Aug. 12.

What they're saying:

In a neighborhood about five minutes from downtown Flagstaff, the flooding was so severe Tuesday that the road was completely hidden beneath water.

"Oh man, it was ridiculous. Everything was completely flooded here," Flagstaff resident Joseph Clerry said.

Roads turned into rivers as the storm hit the area.

"Some of the neighbors behind here have canoes, they were out canoeing on the street," Clerry said. "The real problem is that vehicles just continue to keep driving through here after that was causing just tidal wave after tidal wave."

The National Weather Service says parts of Flagstaff got between 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain in less than an hour Tuesday.

"Trash, trash cans floating down the road here. It was just a mess," Clerry said.

Other neighbors experienced rapidly rising water levels right outside their homes.

"Next thing I knew, it was a foot. I jumped over to my truck to move it out of the way and by the time I got to the front door it was already to the bottom of my door," Flagstaff resident Raymond Hernandez said.

More Storms on the Way:

And more rain is on the way.

"We’re going to see scattered to numerous showers to thunderstorms and many of those storms are going to be capable of producing heavy rainfall, so we are certainly concerned about an enhanced risk of flash flooding. It’s going to be active tomorrow as well," Robert Rickey with National Weather Flagstaff said.

Big picture view:

Monsoon preps are being put to the test. Officials say multi-million dollar flood projects are holding up around burn scars, but this flooding stems from a different problem.

"It’s two completely different problems and two completely different projects. The burns scars are looking really good. This flooding that we’re seeing on the southside is not related to the burn scar completely. The water that is coming down there is not even from the burn scar area. It’s more a localized ponding issue," City of Flagstaff Emergency Manager Daniel Kelly said.

As the city continues to work on long-term projects to mitigate the localized flooding, residents are not just waiting around for the next downpour.

"I’m ready if it does. I mean we’ve bought pumps in the past if we have to pump to try to keep it moving away from the houses," Hernandez said.

It lost 100 jobs in June 2026. Those figures comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ state and local employment report, which tracks monthly job changes. Job numbers can swing month to month as local economies expand or contract, but over the past five years the Flagstaff, AZ Metro Area has averaged about 110 new jobs per month. These figures are often revised in later months as more complete data rolls in.

-100

month to month change in number of jobs (June 2026)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Flagstaff, AZ area job loss of 100 in June 2026 was smaller than the 600 jobs lost in May 2026.

During the latest five-year period (July 2021 to June 2026), the Flagstaff, AZ area gained jobs in 33 out of 60 months. June 2026 had the 15th-lowest job growth during this period. The highest gains during this period occurred in September 2022 (+1,100) while job growth was weakest in January 2023 (-1,100).

Monthly change in nonfarm employment in the Flagstaff, AZ area

How does the Flagstaff, AZ area job growth in 2025 compare to previous years?

In 2026, the Flagstaff, AZ area has lost an average of 183 jobs every month. That's lower than the 2025 average monthly increase of 33, and the lowest since 2020. The 2026 average ranks as the third-worst in job growth since 2020.

When excluding the two pandemic-affected years of 2020 and 2021, job growth ranged from a loss of 3,300 every month in 2009 to a gain of 2,400 every month in 2013.

Average monthly change in the number of jobs in the Flagstaff, AZ area, seasonally adjusted

Keep exploring

Methodology

USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.

Page sources

USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.

FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) — The federal government is investing $70 million to build a full-service federal courthouse in Flagstaff, ending a requirement that sent northern Arizona residents, some driving two to five hours, to Phoenix for federal court proceedings.

Construction is underway on the 50,000-square-foot facility, located off Route 66 in Flagstaff. The building is expected to open and begin hearing cases as soon as March 2027.

Who the courthouse will serve

Mark Bauer, executive vice president of Easterly Government Properties, the company overseeing the build, said the facility is designed to serve residents across rural northern Arizona, including those living on reservations, who currently have limited access to federal court proceedings in the region.

“We’re talking about potential jurors,” Bauer said. “We’re talking about people that are relying on the federal court system for justice.”

Currently, the Sandra Day O’Connor Federal Courthouse in downtown Phoenix handles federal cases for the Valley and a majority of cases from northern Arizona. Only a small number of federal cases are held in Flagstaff.

Security and design

The building carries a Level 3 security rating, one of the highest designations for a federal facility. It features three separate entrances for judges, the public and defendants.

“We have perimeter fencing. We have exterior cameras. We have U.S. Marshals actively protecting the interior of this property 24/7,” Bauer said.

The interior will also incorporate Native American architecture and design elements reflecting Flagstaff.

“We have great pride in what we’re doing here and how it’s going to fit into the community,” Bauer said.

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