Hurricane Odile is now tropical storm Odile. As the storm makes its way north, the National Weather Service Tucson office said Tucson will see more rain in the next few days.
The scattered showers people saw early Tuesday came from the moisture that’s traveling ahead of the tropical storm, according to Emily French, meteorologist at NWS Tucson.
“When the remnants make it to southeastern Arizona, we will see more rain,” she said.
For this week, the weather prediction center is estimating the rainfall total at about 3- to 5-inch range for most of the Tucson area, French said.
That’s higher than last week’s event, according to French. Last Monday’s heavy rain, which caused flooding in many areas and killed two people, was 1.84 inches, according to the measurement from the Tucson International Airport.
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For the rest of Tuesday, Tucson residents may see more scattered showers, some thunderstorms and isolated areas of flash floods. But the widespread flash floods will not be today, French said.
“We’re really focusing on Wednesday and Thursday for the heaviest rain,” she said. “That’s for Tucson and all of southeastern Arizona.”
As of 8 a.m., Odile was 85 miles southwest of Bahia de Kino, a Sonoran resort town east of the Baja peninsula of Mexico.
French said the National Weather Service is stressing the importance for people to stay informed. There are flash flood watches for all of southeastern Arizona. The one in effect as of 10 a.m. is Cochise County, but others will go into effect as the rain continues, she said.
“Today, with it just being kind of showery activity, we don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, this is it,” she said. “There is still more rain coming Wednesday and Thursday. Don’t think this is over. This is just the beginning of things.”
In the meantime, local agencies urged Tucsonans to stay safe and be prepared.
The Tucson Fire Department asked residents not to risk their lives by entering washes. “8”-12” of water can move a vehicle,” a tweet from the department read.
The Oro Valley Police Department is distributing free sand bags for Oro Valley and Golder Ranch Fire District residents. The sand bags can be picked up at Golder Ranch fire stations 370 and 377 until 5 p.m. For more information, call Oro Valley Constituent Services at 229-4711 or the Golder Ranch Fire District Community Relations at 268-2307.
Check back with Tucson.com for updates.
Contact reporter Yoohyun Jung at 573-4224 or yjung@tucson.com. On Twitter: @yoohyun_jung.
Yoohyun Jung
Data reporter
