PHOENIX — After a warm start to the week, our next storm is now bringing wind, rain and snow to Arizona.
Scattered rain and snow showers will continue across northern Arizona, specifically along the Mogollon Rim through the afternoon. Snow accumulation looks light today, but those snow amounts ramp up tomorrow and Friday.
Here in the Valley, clouds will move through this afternoon as showers develop just to our northeast, but the Phoenix Metro stays dry today.
Winds will pick up today, with gusts as high as 30 to 35 mph across most of Arizona. Areas of northwest Arizona could see peak gusts reach 45 mph. These areas along the Colorado River and in the northern portion of Mohave County are under a Wind Advisory from this evening to Thursday afternoon.
The area of low pressure that is bringing the winds and showers to northern Arizona today, will eventually dive further south and become cut off from the main jet stream. That means it will linger around our state for several days, through the weekend, before it finally clears out.
As the storm sinks farther south, the Valley could see light rain showers. Our best chances will come Thursday and Friday.
Valley rainfall amounts still look relatively light, with as much as a tenth to two-tenths of an inch of rain possible across the Phoenix Metro.
Higher rainfall amounts are possible over the mountains just to our north and east, as snow levels come down, too.
Snow levels will hover near 5,000 feet through the end of the week and we could see more significant snow accumulation in areas above 6,000 feet where Winter Weather Advisories are in effect from Thursday morning to Friday evening.
Areas above 6,000 feet could end up with as much as five to 10 inches of snow from Thursday to Friday, with areas like Flagstaff picking up four to eight inches of snow through the end of the week.
Because this area of low pressure will linger through the weekend, the chance for scattered rain and snow showers will stick around across Arizona through early next week, too.
We'll get a big dose of cool air with this storm, dropping Valley highs into the upper 60s to low 70s through the end of the week. Temperatures will rebound into the low to mid 70s through St. Patrick's Day though, as we also dry out in the Valley.
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2024 Rainfall totals:
Sky Harbor Official Rainfall: 2.30" (+0.13" from average)
Valley Average (Phoenix Rainfall Index): 2.42"
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2023 Rainfall totals:
Sky Harbor Official Rainfall: 4.21" (-3.01" from average)
Valley Average (Phoenix Rainfall Index): 5.47"
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Daily rainfall reports from all across the Valley can be found here.
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PHOENIX IS GETTING DRIER - LOWER RAINFALL AVERAGES NOW
Average Monsoon Rainfall in Phoenix (1981-2010): 2.71" of rain
NEW Average Monsoon Rainfall in Phoenix (1991-2020): 2.43" of rain
Average Yearly Rainfall in Phoenix (1981-2010): 8:03" of rain
NEW Average Yearly Rainfall in Phoenix (1991-2020): 7.22" of rain
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