Hurricane Newton hit Baja California early this morning as a Category 1 hurricane. Although category 1 hurricanes mostly cause damage to trees and shrubbery, the wind speed ranges from 74-95MPH. These high wind speeds and the amount of rain is dangerous.
The rain from Newton is supposed to hit Arizona throughout the week, but the bulk of the storm is projected to hit further south and east of Mesa. Mesa is looking at a forecast for showers tonight and to continue on to Wednesday night. We may be getting 3 months rain within a few hours.
If you’re travelling, you can expect downpours this Tuesday night in Southern Arizona which may cause flash flooding. The heavy rain is said to continue through Wednesday night.
This excessive rainfall can lead to flooding along many busy roads and highways. Please drive with caution as the roads will be slippery. You may even want to pull to the side of the road until the heavy downpour passes. The forecast is predicting one to three inches to accumulate in less than 24 hours that is almost double the amount of rain Tucson gets the entire month of September.