Some parts of Arizona are expecting snow this week as a winter-like storm plunges temperatures up to 20 degrees below normal for this time of year.

National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists flagged the incoming storm system on Wednesday morning, even though no winter weather warnings have been officially issued. There are still some uncertainties, but meteorologists are confident that a cold weather system will bring widespread showers across northern Arizona, with snow levels lowering on Friday, leading to hazardous travel conditions Friday and Saturday.

“Get ready to pull out those sweaters and jackets! Temperatures will drop 10-20 degrees below normal by Friday, leaving many locations to max out around 40 to 50 degrees. Warmer weather looks to return by next week though,” the NWS office in Flagstaff posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Another post said: “The first Winter-like storm will be impacting northern Arizona late this week and into the weekend. Much colder temperatures, gusty winds, and rain / high-elevation snow expected.”

NWS meteorologist Paige Konieczny told Newsweek that snowfall will remain primarily above 7,000 feet, with more impactful snowfall amounts expected in areas above 8,000 feet.

“This is pretty typical for this time of year,” she said. “We are heading into our winter season, so to get snow here in the middle of October is not completely out of the norm.”

However, the shifting temperatures will feel “dramatic,” Konieczny said, as the region has experienced above-normal temperatures the past few weeks.

“But those temperatures look to be rather short-lived once the storm system moves out of the area,” she said.

Normal temperatures are expected to return next week.

Counties expecting snowfall include Coconino, Apache, Navajo and northern Gila. Heavy snow will remain largely in mountainous areas, with up to 1.5 inches expected in more populated areas.

“The areas seeing higher [snow] levels are mountaintops,” Konieczny said, adding that up to 10 inches of snow is expected in higher elevations.

Since this is likely to be the first snowfall of the season, Konieczny said, there are travel concerns. Also, winds will be strong.

The Arizona forecast comes as other parts of the U.S. are expecting cold temperatures and, in Montana’s case, heavy snow. Earlier this week, freeze warnings and frost advisories were in place across much of the Central and Midwestern U.S., with some warnings in place along the East Coast as well.

“Cooler temperatures, rain and light snow are forecast for the Midwest and portions of the Eastern U.S. early this week as a cold front progresses through,” the NWS said.

On Wednesday morning, some frost advisories and freeze warnings remained in some states, including Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, as well as some parts of the Eastern U.S.

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — U.S. Senator Mark Kelly made an appearance on the University of Arizona Mall Tuesday, Oct. 15, in an effort to encourage U of A students to vote early.

Kelly is campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris, Governor Tim Walz, and Democrats down the ballot.

Senator Mark Kelly was on campus at the University of Arizona on Tuesday, talking with a group of students about their ability to sway the election to help the Harris Walz campaign win.

“Who gets elected president should matter a lot more to you than it does to me,” he said during a speech to them.

Students like Rahel Hehn were at the event where Kelly encouraged them to vote early.

“You can’t sit there and complain and be upset about a world where you can step in and make a difference,” Hehn said.

Other students like Belicia Lynch were also at the event with signs showing their support for the Harris Walz campaign.

“To see everybody connect and prepare for an election that could possibly change our lives, I thought it was very important,” Lynch said.

Kelly said young voters are making decisions about the next president who will control issues that matter most to them like climate change, housing costs, jobs that pay well, and abortion rights.

“They’re going to have to deal with the decisions that this president, this next president makes for longer than I will,” Kelly said.

Kelly said young voters can help get out the vote by volunteering for the Harris Walz campaign by making phone calls and going door-to-door.

“For a young voter, the consequences of this election is even higher,” he said.

A study done by Arizona State University said two out of three Gen Z registered voters in Arizona say they will vote in this election and almost half of them are independent.

“I helped a friend register to vote. She’s 19. She had never registered to vote and that made me really proud just to see that people my age are willing to,” Hehn said.

Getting out the vote, Kelly said, can make a difference in Arizona where one candidate might only win by thousands of votes.

“It can feel like our vote doesn’t matter, or that everyone is looking at us to make a difference but wouldn’t you rather be part of the difference than the person who stood by and did nothing?” Hehn said.

The U of A said students are going to be able to vote early in the Student Union Memorial Center’s Santa Cruz room from October 28 to November first.

Meanwhile, an event held today in Tucson at a local restaurant by “Latinos for Trump” encouraged Donald Trump’s plan to have no sales tax on tips.

They were there to offer voters information on propositions and remind voters of important dates to vote.

Former President Trump has offered a plan for series of tax breaks over the last several months including tipped and hourly workers, social security recipients, and now car buyers who have experienced sticker shock, as well as Americans who live and vote abroad.

Former Congressman from New York Lee Zeldin was at the event was at the event to support Trump’s plan.

“President Trump’s proposal for no tax on tips has been outstanding from all across the country and there are a lot of people who connect with it, they want more of their hard earned money And at a time like this, where so many people struggling to make ends meet, this is something that allows you to make a little bit easier to afford to get by,” Zeldin said.

Trump has not stated whether his proposal would exempt tips solely from federal income tax, or whether it would also exempt tips from payroll tax which is the federal tax used to fund medicare and social security.

As it stands, the senate bill only includes an exemption for income tax.

WATCH SEN. KELLY ON CAMPUS:

Full video: Sen. Mark Kelly campaigns on

Arizona is a swing state. So why is former President Donald Trump handily beating Vice President Kamala Harris in recent polls of Arizona voters? 

After decades as a perennial red state, consistently voting for Republicans, Arizona turned purple in 2018, electing Kyrsten Sinema as its first Democratic U.S. senator in 30 years. Then in 2020, the state elected Democrat Mark Kelly to the Senate and went for Joe Biden over Trump by just over 10,000 votes — the first time a majority of Arizonans voted for a Democrat for president since Bill Clinton in 1996 (Harry Truman was the last Democrat to win Arizona before Clinton, back in 1948). Most recently, in 2022, Democrats took the majority of statewide offices, including governor, secretary of state and attorney general. 

But a New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena College poll conducted this month showed the former president up by a full 6 percentage points (with a margin of error of 4 points). Is the state swinging back to deep red? Probably not, but it’s complicated.

Arizona’s Democratic Party is hemorrhaging voters, dropping from 1.38 million in 2020 to 1.19 million in 2024. Republicans dropped, too, from 1.5 million to 1.45 million in 2024, but the much larger drop in Democratic voters is glaring, especially in a state now led by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. 

Arizona’s unaffiliated voters have always been a large voting bloc, but that group is growing. In Maricopa County — the most populous county in the state and the fourth-largest in the country — Democrats voters fell from 814,000 to 692,000 in 2024. Biden won Republican-heavy Maricopa County in 2020, but Republicans’ voter advantage is much larger today.

Arizona is also missing strong statewide leadership despite having a Democratic governor. Hobbs is missing in action when it comes to the presidential and Senate races. She has not publicly appeared with Harris or her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — despite numerous Arizona visits. Other swing-state governors, like Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan and Roy Cooper in North Carolina, are pulling out all the stops for the Democratic ticket, but Hobbs and her team are fumbling what should be a tactical advantage for Harris in Arizona.

Arizona has the fourth-largest Hispanic population in the country, making up one-third of the state’s population. Polls show Harris receiving much less support from this vital voting bloc than Biden did four years ago.

Border security and illegal immigration are top issues nationwide, but Arizona is the only swing state where they are truly front and center. The recent one-hour Senate debate between Ruben Gallego and Kari Lake included no less than 30 minutes on immigration and border security issues. 

Arizona also has an initiative on the ballot this year that purports to give law enforcement expanded powers to arrest immigrants who entered the country illegally. The latest polls show that ballot initiative favored by about 60% of Arizonans. The Biden/Harris administration is seen by most Arizonans, including Democratic politicians, as failing Arizona border towns and counties that are often overwhelmed with asylum-seekers and those who crossed the border illegally. These issues are personal to many Arizonans.

Arizona has a strong MAGA contingent, including some of the most extreme members of Congress in Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar and Eli Crane. It is the home of the money-raising MAGA activist group Turning Point USA. And yet, despite this loud minority contingent, every Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for statewide office lost in 2022, while Republicans who did not go all in on Trump won their races for treasurer, superintendent of public instruction and Corporation Commission. Lake lost the governor’s race in 2020 (although she still calls herself Arizona’s rightful governor and has pending election lawsuits to this day) and is greatly underperforming Trump in her Senate race. 

That’s why all hope is not lost for Harris’ winning Arizona in 2024 — the state is truly purple. But she must overcome these significant headwinds if she wants to be only the fourth Democrat to win Arizona’s presidential vote in the last 76 years.