Valley doused in light rain on Christmas, dries out to preview weekend conditions

PHOENIX — Many Valley residents woke up Christmas morning to the gift of rain after brief showers on Wednesday.

And while wet conditions remained through noon, no observable precipitation followed to close out the holiday.

North Phoenix got the most rain, with parts of the Cave Creek area receiving as much as 0.16 inches early in the morning.

Parts of the southwest Valley near Goodyear and Tolleson got 0.08 inches, while most of the East Valley got between 0.04 and 0.08 inches.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the National Weather Service uses for official mercury readings, received 0.03 inches on Christmas and saw a high temperature of 74 degrees.

Some outskirts of the Valley, farther north near New River and to the east at Bartlett Lake, saw nearly 0.30 inches of rain.

NWS expects clouds in the area Friday and Saturday, but the Christmas Day precipitation should be the last for the week. The greatest chance of rain, 17%, comes from midnight to 3 a.m. on Saturday.

Christmas Eve previewed rainier conditions

Rain fell mainly on West Valley cities on Wednesday evening, as metro Phoenix dried out in the last hours of sunlight on Christmas Eve.

Sun City West, Litchfield Park’s Luke Air Force Base and Anthem all observed 0.04 inches of precipitation as of 5:04 p.m., according to data from Flood Control District of Maricopa County.

Sky Harbor reached 69 degrees on Wednesday at 4:16 p.m. for a high four degrees above normal for Dec. 24.

Valley weather conditions remained warmer than usual but paled in comparison to three straight days of daily record highs to begin Christmas week.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Payne Moses contributed to this story.

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