(Photo by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

A graphic of Hurricane Newton shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow).

Hurricane Newton is expected to strengthen and make landfall Tuesday down in Baja California. It’s then predicted the storm to drift north and into Arizona by midweek.

By then, Newton is projected to downgrade to a tropical depression. But it still might drench parts of the state. Mark O’Malley is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix who says the public should be vigilant about Newton’s effects.

“If they’re planning to travel around Wednesday or Thursday, they may run into some flooded areas, especially if they’re heading down to the Southeast part of the state,” he said. “But even some localized areas of the Phoenix metro could be affected.”

Newton is expected to hit Arizona in a patchwork kind of way. The storm could drop one or two inches in one area, O’Malley said, and the rain could completely miss another spot nearby. He stresses that motorists should never enter a flooded roadway.