Newest climate, information for Christmas weekend

Considerably extra People are anticipated to journey this vacation season than final yr.

Greater than 109 million folks will journey 50 miles or extra between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, in accordance with AAA’s annual journey forecast. That’s nearly 34% greater than in 2020.

Test right here for the newest updates on site visitors, crashes, climate, gasoline costs and airport situations you may encounter this vacation weekend.

Comply with vacation weekend protection by Republic reporters right here.

1:20 p.m. Monday: New spherical of flight cancellations, delays at Sky Harbor

Journey woes continued Monday at airports all through the nation, together with at Phoenix Sky Harbor Worldwide Airport, as a brand new spherical of flight cancellations and delays affected passengers nationwide.

The web site FlightAware has logged 4,074 delays on flights to/from and within the United States, as well as 1,122 cancellations as of Monday afternoon.

Locally, FlightAware has recorded 18 cancellations and 101 delays on flights heading out of Sky Harbor, and 18 cancellations and 94 delays on flights arriving at Sky Harbor.

American Airlines, which has one of the largest operations at Sky Harbor, accounted for 12 cancellations out of 221 flights scheduled to depart from Phoenix, the airline told The Arizona Republic. That is four more than the eight flight cancellations registered on Sunday.

American Airlines also had 32 delayed flights as of Monday afternoon. But the airline said about 70% of its flights had left on time, and the majority of delays were for 15 minutes or less.

“American’s operation has been running smoothly, unfortunately a number of COVID-related sick calls led us to make the difficult decision to precancel some flights system-wide scheduled for today,” said Derek Walls, a spokesperson for American Airlines, via email.

“We proactively notified affected customers yesterday, and are working hard to rebook them quickly,” he added. We never want to disappoint our customers and apologize for any disruptions to their holiday travel plans.”

A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines, which also maintains a large presence at Sky Harbor, told The Arizona Republic they had canceled 67 out of 3,600 scheduled flights on Monday because of weather conditions in certain parts of the U.S.

Sky Harbor officials encouraged travelers to check their flight status online and arrive at least two hours beforehand for domestic flights. The airport maintains a list of delayed and canceled flights HERE.

— Rafael Carranza

11:34 a.m. Monday: Cool, cloudy, rainy, snowy weather in Phoenix as new year approaches

Phoenix will remain under the influence of an unsettled weather pattern into the next week as cool, cloudy, rainy, and snowy weather accompanies the Valley in the new year.

Cooler temperatures are expected to persist throughout the week ranging from highs reaching almost 60 degrees on Tuesday and lows in the 30s on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service Phoenix forecast.

However, most of the precipitation will be localized over the high terrain in central Arizona over multiple days over the next week, according to the NWS Phoenix forecast.

Though heavy rainfall is also expected later in the week, rain and light snow will make its first appearance in east Phoenix Tuesday with chances of rain between 70-80% in the evening, said Phoenix NWS meteorologist James Sawtelle.

As a stronger weather system rolls in on Friday, rain showers are expected to start on Friday and continue into early Saturday, Sawtelle said.

Since isolated showers are sure to make an appearance so does the potential for isolated flooding, Sawtelle said. Particularly in areas with burn scars, underpasses, dry washes, and low water crossings.

6 p.m. Sunday: Sky Harbor seeing flight delays, cancellations

A day after Christmas, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was still seeing flight delays and cancellations that have affected travelers in airports across the country since Christmas Eve.

According to flight tracking site FlightAware, over 5,392 flights within, into, or out of the United States had been delayed and 1,283 had been cancelled as of Sunday evening.

Of those, 103 delays, comprising 17% of flights, and 19 cancellations, comprising just 3% of flights, were out of Sky Harbor. Another 126 delays and 15 cancellations were for flights heading to Sky Harbor, according to FlightAware.

The website’s “MiseryMap” showed Sky Harbor rose to be the 10th most “miserable” American airport on Sunday evening. At the top of the list was Denver International Airport, with more than 30% of its departing and arriving flights delayed, followed by Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where 24% of flights had been cancelled.

The airport experiencing the highest percentage of cancellations globally was Bellingham International Airport in Washington, where 73% of outgoing and 84% of incoming flights were cancelled on Sunday, according to FlightAware.

Southwest, Delta and SkyWest each had delayed about a quarter of their flights on Sunday, according to FlightAware.

— Kaila White

11 a.m. Sunday: Chilly, damp weather expected this week

Arizonans saw record rainfall this Christmas Eve. Folks in the Valley saw a record total of 1 inch of rain on Friday according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

According to the Weather Service, temperatures in the Valley will remain below normal for the next several days. The normal is 65 to 66 degrees, but Phoenix is expected to hit just 56 degrees midweek. There is a slight chance of rain this week with the best chance for rain being Tuesday, according to a tweet from the Climate Service.

— Steven Hernandez

4:20 p.m. Saturday: Flood warning in impact

The Nationwide Climate Service in Phoenix issued a flood warning Saturday afternoon for some parts of the Phoenix area.

The warning is in impact till 11 a.m. Sunday.

The climate service mentioned that possibilities of rain for Saturday evening may improve to 40%. There’s a 40% likelihood of rain throughout the daytime on Sunday, happening to 30% Sunday evening.

— Tara Kavaler

12 p.m. Saturday: Chilly climate anticipated via Christmas weekend

After a record-shattering rainfall on Friday evening, the Nationwide Climate Service in Phoenix predicts a excessive temperature of 65 levels for Phoenix Christmas Day, with a ten% p.c likelihood of rain throughout the day.

Saturday’s in a single day low is 52 levels, with the prospect of precipitation rising to 40%.

In line with the climate NWS Phoenix, the excessive temperature for Sunday is projected to be 63 levels, adopted by low temperatures Sunday evening into Monday morning of 47 levels. The excessive Monday is predicted to be 58 levels, with a low of 46 that evening into Tuesday morning. The excessive Tuesday is 56.

Whereas 65 levels is the typical excessive for Phoenix on Christmas Day, the town shattered rain data on Christmas Eve. Phoenix recorded no less than 1 inch of rain, with a median rainfall of 1.37 inches within the Valley. This not solely broke a 77-year document set in 1944 of .93 inch, but in addition marked the eleventh time since temperatures had been logged in mid-1890 that Arizona has seen an inch or extra of rain in December. Moreover, it was the ninth rainiest day ever since 1990.

In line with Austin Jamison, a meteorologist on the NWS in Phoenix, folks ought to put together for rain within the close to future. “Be conscious of the unsettled climate over the following week. Don’t be shocked to come across rains on a number of days over the following seven days,” he instructed The Arizona Republic.

There’s a 40% likelihood of rain throughout the daytime on Sunday, happening to 30% Sunday evening. On Monday, there’s a 50% likelihood of rain throughout the day, which matches as much as 80% that evening. For Tuesday, there’s 70% p.c likelihood of rain, falling to 40% that evening. The prospect of rain is 30% Wednesday, with the probabilities for extra moist climate staying across the identical till Friday.

Jamison defined that when discussing the p.c likelihood of precipitation, it means the chance of getting 1/a hundredth inch of rain or extra. He additional elucidated that the potential of rain throughout the day or evening doesn’t essentially embody everything of the time interval, however relatively sooner or later throughout the 12-hour measurable body.

— Tara Kavaler

5 p.m. Friday: More heavy snow, rain to come Saturday into Sunday

Heavy snow and rain that fell across the state Friday are expected to gradually decrease through the evening, but rebound again on Saturday night into Sunday.

According to a Friday afternoon update from the National Weather Service, rain and snowfall amounts will diminish overnight, with only a few scattered showers expected for Saturday.

The weather service advised travelers to remain aware of roads that might continue to be impassable Saturday from widespread heavy rain on Friday.

Flood warnings for creeks below the Mogollon Rim will be in place through 11 p.m. Friday, as well as a storm warning for the Kaibab Plateau including the Jacob Lake area, and a winter weather advisory for parts of the Navajo Nation above 7,500 feet elevation.

The weather service also expects another round of heavy snow and rain to come on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Black ice on elevated roads as well as slick and snow-covered roads are possible hazards for Sunday.

— Laura Daniella Sepulveda

2:30 p.m. Friday: Six-vehicle crash closes part of State Route 51

A six-vehicle crash shut down the northbound State Route 51 at Highland Avenue on Friday afternoon, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.

A DPS trooper was “struck by debris or a passing vehicle” while investigating the crash but did not report any injuries, the Department said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash or when the northbound lanes of the freeway would reopen.

— BrieAnna J. Frank

2 p.m. Friday: State Route 260 reopened in northern Arizona

A stretch of State Route 260 along the Mogollon Rim reopened after being closed Friday morning because of “extreme weather conditions,” the Arizona Department of Transportation said.

1:20 p.m. Monday: New spherical of flight cancellations, delays at Sky Harbor

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