Arizona seeing cold, wet, windy weather with rain and snow

By Vaughan Jones
Associated Press
Published: Friday, December 24, 2021 - 9:48am
Updated: Friday, December 24, 2021 - 9:16pm

Parts of Arizona had cold, wet and windy weather Friday, with rain falling on desert cities and snow in Flagstaff and nearby mountains.

The state Department of Transportation warned drivers that rain in metro Phoenix would produce wet and slick road conditions. Light to moderate rain was forecast for the Tucson area in southern Arizona.

A flash flood watch was issued for Kingman and other areas in Mohave County in northwestern Arizona through Friday afternoon due to rainfall over a wildfire burn scar in the Hualapai Mountains.

The National Weather Service said Flagstaff could get up to 5 inches of snow Friday, with higher totals expected at higher elevations in the region.

Arizona Snow Bowl, a ski resort in mountains overlooking Flagstaff, reported getting 11 inches of snow overnight.

Gusty winds up to 40 mph were forecast in southeastern Arizona and in east-central Arizona, where winter storm advisories were issued for the Mogollon Rim and White Mountains.

On Saturday, Phoenix-area residents shouldn’t expect a white Christmas, but a wet Christmas.

According to the National Weather Service, Friday morning's rainfall is expected to continue on and off in certain parts of the Valley through Christmas and even into Sunday.

National Weather Service meteorologist James Sawtelle says Valley residents driving on Christmas morning may need to be wary of scattered rainfall and other weather conditions.

"There’s also a chance of some locally dense fog on Christmas morning in some places, depending on how cool it gets and how the sky conditions pan out," said Sawtelle.

Sawtelle says weekend highs are in the mid-60s, with a dip into the mid-50s throughout next week, along with scattered rainfall through Wednesday.

Snow in Flagstaff
Arizona Department of Transportation
Snow in Flagstaff in the early morning on Dec. 24, 2021.