Moisture associated with Hurricane Rosa will move into Arizona Sunday night and will affect our area Monday and Tuesday; maybe longer. Additionally, some forecast models indicate that the actual remnants may move into central Arizona, potentially bringing locally torrential rain and damaging winds. The main weather hazard will be rainfall, with potential for heavy rainfall, flooding and strong winds. There is still some uncertainty for just how much wind and precipitation northern Arizona will receive. Some impacts could be the potential for power outages due to the wind and rain, plus very muddy conditions on dirt roads on the reservations and other rural areas. Slick paved roads will also cause hazardous travel conditions. Current forecasts have the heaviest precipitation tracking through central Arizona. However the forecast track can shift farther east or west with future models. Sustained winds currently fall between 20-and-40-mph, with potential for higher winds, if the circulation center arrives intact.
Rainfall predictions include 3-to-4 in Williams, Flagstaff, Chino Valley, Prescott, Camp Verde and Payson with 2-to-3-inches in Sedona, Bagdad, Black Canyon City and Heber. Between 1-and-2-inches of precipitation is expected along the eastern side of the state. The highest amount is predicted at the north rim of the Grand Canyon where up to 6-inches is possible.
