Forecast calls for significant rainfall as another system heads into metro Phoenix

PHOENIX – Sunday’s round of showers was just an opening act for a main rain event expected to hit metro Phoenix on Monday.

There’s a 100% chance for precipitation Monday night and Tuesday, according to forecasters, thanks to a low-pressure system moving in from the west that could bring up to an inch of rain or more to the region.

“With this being slow-moving, we’re expecting much … higher totals than we saw with the Sunday system,” Sean Benedict, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday morning.

When will it start raining again in Phoenix?

A few scattered showers lingered into Monday morning, along with patches of fog, after an overcast Sunday. Rain could start falling again by later Monday afternoon, but the heaviest activity isn’t expected to start until after 8 p.m.

The rainfall likely will continue through Tuesday, with a chance for isolated thunderstorms that afternoon, Benedict said.

The totals are expected to be highest in the Cave Creek, Carefree and north Scottsdale areas, perhaps up 1.5 inches.

“In general, just around an inch in Phoenix is in the forecast,” Benedict said.

What temperatures are in the Valley forecast this week?

The Valley’s high temperatures are expected to stay in the low 60s for most of the week, with a slight chance for showers on Thursday, but the skies should be sunny and clear by the weekend.

“Heading into the end of the week, we’ll slowly start to break out of the trough pattern that we’re in, and we’ll slowly start to warm up, forecasting a return of the 70s by the weekend,” Benedict said.

How much has it rained in Phoenix in 2024?

Sunday’s system dropped 0.03 inches at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the National Weather Service uses for the city’s official readings, although most of the Valley saw between 0.04 and 0.08 inches.

That put Phoenix at 0.06 inches for the year, well behind the normal total of 0.63 inches through the first 21 days of January.

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

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