Rain, strong winds forecast in metro Phoenix; heavy snow in northern Arizona

Valentine's Day brought strong wind and winter weather advisories across the Phoenix area.

According to the National Weather Service Phoenix office, a storm system venturing from the northwest was making its way toward Arizona, bringing a heap of weather conditions with it.

"We're gonna have a pretty strong system roll through; it's actually still a little ways off to our northwest," National Weather Service Phoenix meteorologist Sean Benedict told The Arizona Republic. "It'll roll through and winds will pick up rather quickly later this afternoon into the evening hours."

According to Benedict, wind gusts Tuesday afternoon will play to the tune of around 30 to 40 mph, with peak gusts potentially hitting 45 to 50 mph.

As always, strong winds have the ability to kick up dust.

"Those winds could also generate some blowing dust. We do have a blowing dust advisory in effect for this afternoon/evening, specifically down south of Phoenix and parts of Pinal County," Benedict said.

In addition, the prospect of rain could also put a damper on some Valentine's Day plans.

"There'll be a pretty good chance for rain; we're looking at chances even upwards of 60% to 80% chance just across the metro area of Phoenix and the higher terrain off to the east of Phoenix," Benedict said. "Generally, the rain chances start to increase toward the mid- to late afternoon, and that'll go through about 11 p.m. or midnight."

However, the window for rain is expected to be very brief, as the system bringing it will move through quickly.

"A well-defined line of showers" as Benedict described it, would see rainfall moving in followed by punches of dry air that could cause a "very quick clear out during the late evening into the overnight hours."

One more thing.

"As this comes in as well, it'll be some very cold air, so our snow levels are going to drop fairly quickly, so there is even some chance that some of the areas of to the north and east of Phoenix could see some brief transition over to snow as this rolls through," Benedict said. "We do have a winter weather advisory in effect for about 3 to 7 inches in some of the higher terrain areas, specifically above 5,000 feet."

Snow is a long shot, though, given how quickly this system is making its way through Arizona.

Moving forward, however, Tuesday will likely be the highest impact day of weather. Wednesday and Thursday morning are only forecast to bring cold temperatures with them, having respective lows of 35 and 39 degrees. Weekend temperatures will then climb back up beginning Friday, with highs north of 68 degrees.

Northern Arizona whiteout?

While those in Phoenix celebrate the thought of snow, a majority of northern Arizona is currently under siege.

According to the National Weather Service Flagstaff office, the heaviest amount of snowfall is expected Tuesday through Wednesday, with areas of Flagstaff receiving about 8 to 12 inches of snow.

Due to the harsh weather, school districts in northern Arizona have closed for the day, such as the Flagstaff Unified School District and Williams Unified School District.

Northern Arizona University also announced that classes starting after 4 p.m. on the mountain campus were canceled, along with university offices closing. School shuttles will run until 4:30 p.m., the university said on Twitter.

Similarly to the Phoenix forecast, strong winds are plaguing northern Arizona as well, reaching roughly 35 to 55 mph.

Except instead of blowing dust, it's blowing snow.

Whiteout conditions combined with slick roads have created a dangerous mix for travel conditions across northern Arizona.

Snow levels have climbed in the forecast along both Interstate 17 and Interstate 40, most notably being a predicted 12 to 18 inches above 7,000 feet in Flagstaff on I-40.

Drivers who cannot delay their travels are advised to pack emergency kits such as water, snacks and cellphone chargers. Travel conditions can always be checked ahead of time at az511.gov to stay up to date.

Authorities have advised that road closures in northern Arizona are likely. The Arizona Department of Transportation has since announced that State Route 64 (mileposts 264-240) and State Route 89A (mileposts 375-398) were closed in both directions due to winter weather.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona forecast: Rain, winds forecast in metro Phoenix; snow in north