Wintry weather wallops parts of Arizona, Phoenix catches rain

PHOENIX — Schools were closed, roads were slick and temperatures were freezing in northern and southern Arizona as wintry weather descended on the Valley of the Sun Monday morning.

At 715 AM…snow is falling across much of northern Arizona this morning. Please us caution while driving!!! #azwx pic.twitter.com/sGqQXyjqHF

— NWS Flagstaff (@NWSFlagstaff) December 14, 2015

SR 87 north of Strawberry is covered in snow. pic.twitter.com/IQzt9Mk19u

— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) December 14, 2015

Snow stick atop Mt. Lemmon shows 6" on the ground, another 3-6" possible today. #azwx #KVOAwx pic.twitter.com/ytGIzCDrCW

— Jeff Beamish (@jeffbeamish) December 14, 2015

Traffic heading north on Interstate 17 was stopped the closer it got to Flagstaff, the state highway transportation department said. The standstill was about 40 miles south the area and State Route 89A through Oak Creek Canyon was closed.

Over a half-foot of snow was expected before nightfall. The high was forecast to reach 25 degrees. It was 22 at 10 a.m.

Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff tweeted a total of 16 inches of snowfall fell on Monday alone.

16" storm total for today! 28" of fresh snow in the past three days!

— Arizona Snowbowl (@AZSnowbowl) December 14, 2015

Temperatures were warmer Monday in Bellemont but were expected to dip to between minus-8 and minus-10 degrees Wednesday. Forecasters said the region hadn’t seen temperatures below zero in nearly a year.

LOTS of snow continuing to fall! #Flagstaff #azwx pic.twitter.com/4aVmHm4oFd

— Christina Cantu 🇺🇸 (@Woke49erGirl) December 14, 2015

Public school in Williams and Flagstaff gave kids and teachers a break, calling off classes.

Past Flagstaff, snow made the Grand Canyon even prettier than usual.

How is your Monday? #GrandCanyon roads #snow packed & icy today. #Winter #Weather #Advisory through 6pm today. -mq pic.twitter.com/2f2Y1yBvql

— Grand Canyon NPS (@GrandCanyonNPS) December 14, 2015

It was cold and wet in the Phoenix area, too, but that wetness was from rain bringing temperatures to 45 degrees at 10 a.m.

According to the National Weather Service of Phoenix, the Valley saw a high of 54 degrees and a low of 44, with just 0.16 inches of rain on Monday. The rain record for Dec. 14 was 1.43 inches in 1967.

The Valley skies were expected to clear up Tuesday, with a mostly sunny week on tap.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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