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. "

Rain Rain coming ...

We’ve got 3, count ‘em, 3 big storms coming our way this week. As a matter of fact, the first one is here as of this morning. I woke up to rain, quiet easy but steady rain. It went on for another hour or so and has let up for the time being. It’s lovely, if the whole week is this wet and not pouring it will be really pleasant, I think.

And, yes, these storms are courtesy of the Southwest Deserts’ friend, El Nino. El Nino is the weather pattern that appears every few years, 5-10, I think. And it seems to cause lots of problem when it disrupts the usual weather pattern in North and South America but here in Arizona and in Southern California it is good for more rain than usual in the winter.

Channel 12, NBC broadcast affiliate, said the first two storms are Mon-Tuesday night and we can expect ½ - 1 inch of rain in Phoenix metro area. The next storm is wetter and maybe 1-3 inches of rain.

My one grey tabby female won’t be happy with this rain but we got to have it! These 3 storms will cover the whole state and bring rain in the deserts and snow in the high country. I ought to have a map of Arizona to link to when I mention these things so I can find them on the map and maybe, if anyone is checking in here, they could see it, too. Possible 4th or 5th storms were mentioned in one forecast I heard on local TV.

I’ll have to move the plants on the front porch out a little so they can get some of the rain, fresh from the sky this week. Maybe we’ll catch up on our lack of precipitation; it seems to me we’re an inch or two down from where we should be this time of year. But then I can hardly remember a time in my life when I’ve ever heard that we had an “excess” of rain/precipitation either!

The new CSA session starts on Wednesday and I have to take my contract and check over there and turn it in and get my first load of food from there! I hope my contact can email more specific directions than I have so I can find them in the hospital complex they distribute from. I know where the major cross streets are but it’s a big complex.

Good heavens, I just found my name on Chile’s Chews local blog list! Right there in the list with Solar Oven Chef!

Of course, local blogs are valuable to those living in similar locations, I know because I read chile’s and the Solar Chef myself. My thanks to chile!

Peace to All, shamba