Arizona will warm up briefly for the weekend before more winter storms next week

It’s back to typical weather in the Phoenix area this weekend, as sunshine and warmer temperatures take over following the brief relief brought by a storm system on Friday.

The National Weather Service forecast a gradual warm-up, with highs in the low 70s on Saturday, mid-to-high 70s on Sunday, and reaching 84 degrees by Monday.

The warmer temperatures come just in time for the Tempe Spring Festival of the Arts, the annual downtown event celebrating independent artists and the arrival of spring.

Another storm system was set to move through the state next week, bringing some much-needed rain after one of the driest winters in recent memory.

Northern Arizona to warm up this weekend after Friday’s storms

Next week’s storm system follows a system on Friday that dropped temperatures in Phoenix to the low 50s, bringing much-needed rain to the Valley and triggering a winter storm in northern Arizona, which led to multiple highway closures. Eastbound Interstate 40 near Kingman and northbound State Route 89A between Sedona and Interstate 17 were shut down Friday because of heavy snowfall.

Flagstaff will see a mix of light showers and snow through early Saturday morning before transitioning to sunnier and warmer conditions throughout the weekend. The National Weather Service forecast a high of 41 degrees in Flagstaff on Saturday, 50 on Sunday, and 52 by Monday.

Another storm system to hit the state next week

The National Weather Service forecast that the warmer temperatures will be short-lived, as another storm system is expected to move through Arizona next week, bringing rain back to the Valley and snow to the north as early as Tuesday.

Fallout from snowfall: Winter storm closes I-17, I-40, State Route 89A in northern Arizona