Rain set to fall on soaked Southwest, with flood watches across Arizona

Rain was expected to begin falling Saturday evening across the U.S. Southwest, where the ground is already wet from weeks of storms. The National Weather Service said up to 4 inches could fall through Monday, raising the threat of flash flooding across Arizona and neighboring states.

Flood watches cover nearly all of Arizona, along with parts of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado, western New New Mexico and a portion of southern Nevada. The watches include the Four Corners region, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said the ground there is so saturated that little rain is needed to cause trouble.

Rescues already began Friday. The Phoenix Fire Department said crews pulled people from four vehicles on flooded streets Friday night. In nearby Scottsdale, fire Capt. Dave Folio said crews were helping one vehicle in high water when a second car with two people drove into the same floodwater and also needed rescue. Folio said in a Facebook video that 2 inches of water can sweep a vehicle off its wheels, and that the cars sat in 3 to 4 feet of water.

In Henderson, Nevada, crews made three swift-water rescues during a Friday afternoon downpour, a city spokesperson said. One person was lifted from a vehicle roof after it became stuck. Two others were pulled from a car that floodwaters carried off the roadway. A person found in a wash was rescued but went into cardiac arrest and later died at a hospital.

In western Arizona, heavy rain hit Bullhead City on Friday, leaving water, rocks and debris across city streets and closing parks, the city said in Facebook posts. Santorelli said this weekend's rain could bring both flash flooding and small-stream flooding.