Rain, cold and wind to pass through Phoenix area; snow to pound Flagstaff

PHOENIX – Reminders that it is still winter will drop in on metro Phoenix this week, bringing rain and crisp temperatures, forecasters said.

The high Tuesday in the Valley is expected to be 67 degrees, with up to a 50% chance of measurable rain in the late hours, but Wednesday’s high is predicted to only reach 58 degrees with a 90% chance of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures get warmer the rest the week: 60 degrees on Thursday – still jacket weather; 66 on Friday; and 69 on Saturday.

Breaking down the rain and snow impacts from Wednesday's winter weather system. #AZwx #CAwx pic.twitter.com/RqQpZsaqjp

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) February 22, 2022

It will be windy, too, but not as hard as it was Monday, when drafts topped out at 50 mph in San Tan Valley and 39 mph at Falcon Field airport in Mesa. Gusts may reach 25 mph while the sun is up Wednesday.

“We’re going to have multiple waves of storm systems coming down … as well as breezy conditions,” Sean Benedict of the weather service’s Phoenix bureau told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

Those systems are coming down from far north of the Valley. Up there, weather experts predicted a foot of snow falling over 30 hours.

Flagstaff could get up to 12 inches of snow between Tuesday evening and late Wednesday.

Other areas in the higher elevations could get as much or more. And that will make for hazardous driving conditions.

“Anywhere basically above 6,000 feet, you’re going to see difficult to impossible travel at times,” Emily Thornton, a meteorologist at the weather service’s Flagstaff office, told KTAR News.

The Arizona Department of Transportation recommended waiting until the snowstorm has passed before taking to the road and to allow time for the plows to clear the way.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross and John Roller contributed to this report.

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