Hilary in Arizona: Phoenix area could see showers, windy conditions into Sunday night

Following a breezy Sunday, the National Weather Service is calling for more wind gusts with a slight chance of showers in the metro Phoenix area, developing into showers and windy conditions into the evening.

Phoenix, as well as portions of western Arizona, are slated to see rainfall after Hilary, now a Category 1 storm, made landfall in Mexico and moves inland.

Sunday morning saw a low temperature of 83 degrees in the Valley, and a high temperature of 102 in the afternoon. Gusts up to 35 mph in metro Phoenix and up to 60 mph in Yuma were seen early Sunday evening. The weather service forecast a 70% chance of rain into Monday morning but “new rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch” are called for in the Valley.

By Sunday night, the low was expected to drop to 79 with winds of up to 20 mph before midnight.

Hilary updates: Wind advisory issued for Phoenix area

Isolated showers were expected to continue across south-central Arizona overnight. Farther west, heavier rain was expected across portions of southeastern California from morning until evening.

Yuma, in the southwest corner of the state, was forecast to get 2-3 inches of rain, the National Weather Service said. The weather service has posted a high wind warning for western Arizona, for parts west of Dateland. This includes Yuma, Kingman and the entire Colorado River area bordering California. It calls for gusts up to 70 mph from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

A wind advisory was in place for a swath of the state east of that region. It includes Tucson, Casa Grande, Phoenix and Prescott. It calls for gusts up to 55 mph through 10 p.m.

Southwestern Arizona is forecast to have wind gusts between 50 and 65 mph on Sunday afternoon. Meteorologists expect somewhere between 0.75 inch and 2 inches of rain to fall in that section of the state. Phoenix is expected to get somewhere between 0.25 inch and 0.5 inch of rain through Monday afternoon, the weather service said.

Western portions of Maricopa County could see wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph.

Western Pima County, which borders the Mexican state of Sonora, is expected to see some flash flooding, with officials in the area aiding in preparations by distributing sandbags throughout the weekend.

Flood watches are in effect until at least Sunday night in western Pima County.

Prescott, Wickenburg and Gila Bend are all projected to receive between 0.5 inch and 1 inch of rain.

Alex Young, lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Phoenix, said Saturday the moisture from Hilary and the increased cloud cover aided in cooler temperatures.

For the first time in more than two months, the Valley failed to reach triple-digit temperatures. On Saturday, the high temperature recorded by the National Weather Service at Phoenix Sky Harbor only reached 95 degrees.

The last time the high temperature failed to reach the triple digits was on June 13.

“We’ll see more effects of Hilary itself across the region tomorrow,” Young said.

Thursday brought the first impact of the hurricane when Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the site used by the weather service in Phoenix to measure official rainfall totals, measured 0.01 inches of rain, breaking a streak of 147 days without measurable rainfall.

Phoenix should expect to see the effects of Hilary begin to weaken Monday as the storm begins to move into Nevada and the Pacific Northwest.

But chances for thunderstorms will continue into the week across Arizona as the monsoon continues in the Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff areas.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix-area weather: Hilary could bring wind, showers Sunday night