PHOENIX — It's a wet start to 2022 across Arizona!
Rain and snow are moving across our state as we ring in the new year.
Here in the Valley, showers will be off and on throughout overnight hours, tapering off as the storm moves east by sunrise.
The other issue we'll have to deal with is air quality.
Fireworks going off will lead to a huge spike in particle pollution early Saturday morning and will make breathing difficult for many people outside.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has issued a High Pollution Advisory for Saturday.
Winter Weather Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for northern Arizona along with the higher terrain of southeast Arizona.
Snow levels will drop to 4,000 feet by early Saturday morning.
Flagstaff could pick up four to six inches of snow with two to five inches in the forecast for Show Low, Heber and Williams.
We'll see a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow in places like Prescott, Sedona and Payson with less than an inch of snowfall accumulating.
This winter storm will exit to the east on New Year's Day leaving behind some of the coldest air of the season.
Freeze Warnings are in effect across the Phoenix metro area for Sunday morning as lows drop into the low to mid 30s.
Up north, lows will be in the single digits in our highest terrain spots like Flagstaff over the weekend.
Temperatures will rebound heading into next week as our forecast stays dry.
Look for highs in the Valley back in the low to mid 60s through the middle of next week with overnight lows in the 40s.
As the forecast continues to warm up, we may end up hitting 70 degrees again in Phoenix by the end of next week.
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2021 Rainfall totals:
Sky Harbor Official Rainfall: 7.10" (-0.12" from average)
Valley Average (Phoenix Rainfall Index): 9.07"
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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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