Cooler weather coming to Phoenix area, snow to fall in high country
Feb 12, 2018, 12:18 PM | Updated: 8:59 pm
(Unsplash Photo/Craig Craig Whitehead)
(Unsplash Photo/Craig Craig Whitehead)
PHOENIX — Wet weather is heading to Phoenix and it’s already dropping snowflakes up north Monday.
The National Weather Service predicted a 55 percent chance for rain this week, with sprinkles Monday but more falling Wednesday.
Dry and warm conditions will be replaced by cooler and unsettled conditions for most of this work week. Expect chances for precip in the Phoenix area today through Thursday; best rain window to be Wed night. #azwx pic.twitter.com/MnePD2DtAk
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) February 12, 2018
Cooler temperatures, though, were already a fact. Late-morning temperatures hovered around 55 degrees at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The day’s high was expected to reach mid-to-high 60s.
The rest of the week should be the same.
“Probably a quarter to half an inch,” of rain will hit metro Phoenix, weather bureau meteorologist Chris Kuhlman said, but outside of the Valley, almost an inch could come down.
“We’re not anticipating thunderstorm activity or anything like that,” he said, but Flagstaff could get up to 4 inches of snow over the next two days.
A cold front brought snow flurries to the city Monday and a high of 39 degrees. Snow wasn’t sticking to streets, instead melting fast and leaving slick pavement.
That has been the mostly missing element in the area’s winter. Flagstaff has had two small storms with measurable snowfall.
A late January storm left behind 4.5 inches of snow and one shortly into the new year dumped almost 5 inches. Road conditions for that one were bad enough to delay the start of school for a couple of hours.
The annual yearly snowfall total is 77 inches. The average in January is 18 inches and February is 17 inches.
KTAR News’ Jim Cross contributed to this report.
