3rd storm coming

From www.azcentral.com weather.

"Today's forecast: Stronger, wetter storm coming
by Sarah Walters - Jan. 20, 2010 01:41 AM
12 News Weather Plus Meteorologist

The second of a series of storms is moving out quickly this morning, but light rain and snow showers are still expected to continue in eastern Arizona. Expect quiet, dry weather for today, with partly cloudy skies. Clouds increase from the west this afternoon, ahead of our 3rd storm, and we pick up a 50% chance of rain showers in the Valley this evening. After midnight, rain and snow chances across the state increase.

Thursday morning, things really start to ramp up, where heavy rain and snow are likely in Arizona. Expect it to rain and snow all day long, and continue into Friday, as this third storm is stronger, wetter, and slower-moving. There's also a chance of embedded thunderstorms which could contain lightning, heavy downpours, and small hail. Not only that, but strong winds are expected by Thursday night with winds up to 50 mph. Winds will be even stronger in southeast Arizona, where a High Wind Watch is in effect for winds up to 65 mph.

By the end of the week, this 3rd storm will have dumped 2"-4" of additional rainfall across Valley locations. Higher elevations north and east of Phoenix could see 5"+. Because of the heavy rainfall accumulation expected, normally dry washes and streams are expected to flood so a Flash Flood Watch has been issued for the Phoenix metro and surrounding areas from 6am Thursday, through 5pm Friday. There is also a Flood Watch for areas south of the Mogollon Rim from Thursday morning through Saturday morning, as heavy rain of up to 7" is possible, along with melting snow. These watches mean that Flood & Flash Flood Warnings could be occur at anytime during the watch period, so be sure to monitor the weather on our 24-hour weather channel, 12 News Weather Plus. You can find it on Cox Digital Cable 83, Qwest Choice TV 66, over the air 12.2, or on www.12news.azcentral.com.

In the High Country, rain and snow will start to pick up again this afternoon and evening, and really ramp up after midnight. A Winter Storm Watch is in effect along the Rim, from Flagstaff down into the White Mountains area starting tonight and lasting through Friday evening. Snowfall rates are expected to become quite heavy after midnight and continue throughout the day on Thursday. Strong winds up to 50 mph are also expected, which could lead to white-out, near blizzard conditions.
That watch could eventually turn into a Winter Storm Warning or Blizzard Warning for the High Country. When it's all said and done by Saturday morning, this 3rd storm could dump and additional 2' – 4' of snowfall above 7000', with those higher amounts for the White Mountains area. The Flagstaff area is expected to get 2'-3' of additional accumulation by Saturday morning.

There's also a Blizzard Watch above 7,000' in southeast Arizona from Thursday morning through Friday morning. Heavy snow will be possible at times with up to 1'-2' two-day total accumulation expected. Winds in these areas will get up to 65 mph though, which means that white-out & blizzard conditions are likely. This also includes the higher elevations around the Tucson metro area. This watch could eventually turn into a Blizzard Warning.

Rain and snow chances will be dwindling late Friday into Saturday, as this 3rd punch exits Arizona. Drier, quiet conditions can be expected by Saturday afternoon. Most of the weekend looks good… with drier and slightly warmer weather. Valley highs for the rest of the week are only expected to warm into the upper 50s low 60s, and then warm into the mid 60s by Sunday and Monday.

The majority of next week looks dry, but there's the possibility of another storm moving through the southwest on Tuesday/Wednesday. Too early to tell at this point on the timing and intensity of this storm, but we will be watching it… being that we are in a moderate to strong El Nino pattern this winter. "