RIMROCK, Arizona – Some residents of north-central Arizona were told to prepare to evacuate Tuesday afternoon due to rising water levels in rivers and basins.

The Yavapai County Sheriff has ordered residents of the Rimrock and Lake Montezuma areas along Wet Beaver Creek to evacuate or move to higher ground.

Residents of Beaver Creek were advised to evacuate or move to higher ground. Refuges were set up at Camp Verde as needed.

The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory Tuesday afternoon for residents of the Oak Creek area south of Sedona.

A winter weather advisory has been issued for parts of Central, Northwest, and Northeast Arizona, with up to 3 inches of snow forecast for the Flagstaff area.

Arizona Department of Transportation officials said State Route 89A was closed in both directions between Sedona and Flagstaff due to rock slides and inclement weather, while State Route 260 was closed due to multiple disabled vehicles. was closed near Forest Lakes in . State Route 87 in Payson and State Route 64 near Grand Canyon National Park are also closed.

The Salt River Project said the storm forced it to increase water discharge from two reservoirs on the Verde River. Officials said in a news release that the reservoir was already more than 80% full.

SRP says it will begin releasing 16,000 cubic feet of water per second on Tuesday. This equates to 120,000 gallons (455,000 liters) of water per second. Cubic feet per second could rise further later in the week.

A recent study found that the 13,000-square-mile (34,000-square-kilometer) watershed draining into these Verde Reservoirs has the deepest snow cover in 30 years. Serving primarily central Arizona, the SRP operates by strategically releasing water from dams on the Salt and Verde Rivers into a network of canals.