PHOENIX - Get ready for big changes, as a strong winter storm brings rain chances, snow chances, and a big cool-down our way! 

Cloud cover will continue to thicken up today with a slight chance of sprinkles or light showers primarily for areas west of the Phoenix metro.   

If you're in the high country or northwest Arizona, expect scattered light rain showers by this evening.   

Valley rain chances increase as a storm system approaches Arizona on Tuesday. 

The best chance for rain in the Valley will come Tuesday evening into Tuesday night as a cold front sweeps through. Scattered showers and a few thunderstorms will be possible overnight into early Wednesday morning. 

We could see anywhere between a quarter of an inch to half an inch of rainfall across the Phoenix metro. Expect slightly higher amounts over the mountains to our north and east.  

As the cold front passes through late in the day on Tuesday, expect winds to crank up out of the southwest with gusts up to 30 mph.  

For the high country, it looks like much of the precipitation will fall in the form of rain before the cold front moves through. After the front passes, snow levels will crash to around 5,500 feet by Wednesday morning with a few inches of snow possible for northern Arizona locations.

Spots like Flagstaff and Williams could get between one and three inches of snow by Wednesday morning. Northern Arizona ski resorts could pick up a little more between three and six inches. 

A few isolated showers and high country snow showers will be possible through the day on Wednesday before we clear out for the rest of the week.

Valley highs will fall from the low to mid 70s today and Tuesday to the low to mid 60s on Wednesday as the cold air settles in, putting us closer to normal for this time of year. 

Expect highs back in the low 70s as soon as Friday as a ridge of high pressure builds in next weekend.

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2018 Rainfall totals:

Sky Harbor Official Rainfall: 0.00" (-0.21" from average)

Valley Average (Phoenix Rainfall Index): 0.00" (-0.14" from average)

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Daily rainfall reports from all across the Valley can be found here .

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See the full 7-Day forecast

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