Gusting winds batter southern Arizona

Gusting winds swept through Yuma on Tuesday, with speeds up to 40 to 50 mph, according to an Accuweather meterologist.

A cold front from the northwest caused the high winds to gust, which were strong enough to knock down tree limbs and that may impact power lines as well, according to Heather Buchman, meteorologist.

"I'm just seeing blowing dust in Yuma but to the north and east there's thunderstorms and snow in the mountains."

Winds were expected to lighten up after 8 p.m. Tuesday, with top gusts of 25 mph, she said. By Wednesday morning, gusts will only reach 20 mph, with most areas generally seeing winds of 10 to 15 mph.

Buchman said Wednesday should have a high temperature of 62 degrees, with a low Wednesday evening of 43 degrees. There is no chance of rain Wednesday.

The storm system moving over northern Arizona that brought the winds to Yuma, will likely drop up to 4 inches of snow in the Flagstaff area by Wednesday morning. The storm is expected to taper off and move through Arizona quickly and into New Mexico on Wednesday.

That storm system is expected to pick up strength as it moves into Nebraska and cause blizzard conditions there and in South Dakota and Minnesota as it moves northeast, Buchman said.

The blowing dust in southern Arizona caused severe visibility problems, which resulted in a multiple car pile-up on Interstate 10 near Case Grande, Buchman reported.

But in the south Yuma County area, there were numerous calls about downed power lines throughout Tuesday morning, says Robby Rodriguez, Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department spokesman.

"There were no traffic accidents. But early in the morning we had that heavy fog and there were spurts of power outages. Power would go off and on for about 10 minutes in parts of south county. But all that's been corrected by APS."

Power lines were reported down on Main Street and Somerton Avenue as well as a downed light pole at the Orchid Street Apartments, but those issues were repaired by APS, he said.