Arizona Weather 3/8 Midday - Record Cold

Good afternoon. Arizona. I'm Aaron Jolly. Step outside right now and you'll feel something we haven't had in a while — a genuinely warm morning. We're sitting at 74 degrees after bottoming out at 55 overnight. That's about 27 degrees warmer than normal for early March. And today's shaping up to be a stunner. Central Arizona hits 88 degrees under full sunshine. Light easterly winds around 5 miles an hour keep it comfortable. Tonight drops to 59 under partly cloudy skies. Down south, expect 84 degrees with plenty of sun. Southeast winds pick up to 10 miles an hour. Tonight cools to 50 as clouds start building from the west. Up in the high country, sunshine pushes you to 59 degrees. Easterly winds run 6 to 9 miles an hour with gusts to 27 miles an hour. Tonight's the cold spot statewide — dropping to 27 under mostly clear skies. But here's the twist. A low pressure system sitting off Baja California is about to flip the script. Monday brings increasing clouds and showers statewide. Central Arizona sees a 60 percent chance of rain starting around 11 A.M., with the heaviest activity Monday evening. Southern Arizona gets an 80 percent chance — rain begins late morning and continues through Monday night. Even northern Arizona sees a 40 percent chance of showers after 5 P.M. Monday. Rainfall totals look modest — a tenth to a quarter inch for most areas, with locally higher amounts under thunderstorms. The mountains could see a dusting of snow. Tuesday wraps up the wet weather as the system moves east. Then high pressure builds back in. Wednesday through Saturday? Dry and warming fast. Phoenix could challenge record highs by Friday — potentially hitting 94 degrees. Enjoy the sunshine today. The weather's about to get interesting. See you this evening.