ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Phoenix rain | 0:10
Rain falls in central Phoenix on Aug. 5, 2016
azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Monsoon Storms Roll In | 0:40
Monsoon
Storms Roll In Thursday afternoon. It could be round two for some areas
already blindsided by Tuesday's deluge. Joyce-Zoe Farley |
AZCentral.com
Joyce Zoe-Farley/azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Rain in north Phoenix | 0:19
Monsoon rain comes down on Cave Creek Road, north of Loop 101, on Aug. 3, 2016. Michael Chow/azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Video of rain from Aug. 3 in Casa Grande | 1:59
A storm blowing into Casa Grande at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3. Pedro Hernandez/Special for azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Manhole cover in Phoenix floats during Aug. 2 storm | 0:12
Jessie
Peña took this video in the Coronado Historic District, near 12th and
Oak streets, in Phoenix and posted it to Facebook. It shows a manhole
cover floating from the air pressure created by Tuesday's storm, Aug. 2,
2016.
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Monsoon storm drenches Phoenix on Aug. 2 | 0:53
A monsoon storm drenched Phoenix on Tuesday, Aug. 2, flooding intersections and snarling traffic. Ben Moffat/azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Interstate 17 flooding on Aug. 2 | 0:57
Floodwaters
cover Interstate 17 in Phoenix on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, after heavy
rain moved through the area. David Kadlubowski/azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Wet commute in Scottsdale | 0:24
Traffic on Hayden Road in Scottsdale, near Indian School Road. Mark Henle/azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Rain on I-17 south of Flagstaff on Aug. 3 | 0:48
Rain and low visibility were reported on Interstate 17 south of Flagstaff on Aug. 3, 2016. Yihyun Jeong/azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Raw: Thunderstorm in northeast Mesa | 0:31
Heavy rain, thunder and lightning near Brown and Recker roads in Mesa on Aug. 2, 2016. Stephen Harding/azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Monsoon rain floods Phoenix street | 0:15
Silvia
Graham protects her home from flood waters on 40th Street south of
Thomas Road in Phoenix on Aug. 2, 2016. Michael Chow/The Republic
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Flooding in Phoenix on Aug. 2 | 0:06
Motorists
try to navigate floodwaters near 35th Avenue and Bethany Home Road in
Phoenix on Tuesday, Aug. 3. Ryan Santistevan/azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Monsoon storm rolls in | 0:42
A mushroom-shaped cloud can be seen from downtown Phoenix on Aug. 2, 2016, just before a massive downpour.
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Flooding on I-17 | 0:10
Cars drive on a flooded Interstate 17 on Aug. 2, 2016. Ben Tolmachoff/Special to The Republic
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Monsoon rain storms downtown Phoenix | 0:11
A monsoon storm moved through downtown Phoenix on July 29, 2016.
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Lightning over the Superstition Mountains | 0:29
Reader Charles Dee Rice captures video of the lightning storm that passed through the far East Valley.
Charles Dee Rice
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Blowin' in the wind | 0:21
Palm trees blow in the wind as low-density dust storm moves into Phoenix.
Rob Schumacher|azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Dust storm moves into Phoenix on June 23, 2016 | 0:30
A
dust storm move into Phoenix as seen from the south side of Camelback
Mountain on Thursday, June 23, 2016. David Wallace/azcentral.com
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Phoenix resident likes that dust storm cooled the valley | 0:11
Phoenix resident Jabar Bonner reacts to dust storm.
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ARIZONA MONSOON SEASON 2016Chase Field roof closes in dust storm | 0:10
Hyperlapse of Chase Field roof closing during a dust storm. Ben Moffat/azcentral.com
So much rainfall had fallen in a
short span of time — up to 2 inches in one hour in central Phoenix —
that the National Weather Service was referring to the storm as a
100-year event, meaning that amount of rainfall has a 1 percent chance
of happening in any given year, in a specific location.
Authorities
urged Valley residents to avoid driving during the storm, as
the rainfall had created headaches for motorists on freeways and surface
streets.
Arizona Department of Transportation closed
Interstate 17 in both directions at Indian School Road due to flooding
at 5:30 p.m. Southbound lanes had reopened by 10 p.m., and the
northbound portion of I-17 followed suit soon after. Nearly 3 inches of
rain had fallen there, according to county rainfall data.
The
interchange linking westbound Interstate 10 to northbound State Route
51 was flooded and closed for more than four hours. It reopened at about
10:45 p.m.
And
weather-related activity in the East Valley forced officials to shut
down several stretches of roadway Tuesday night. In Scottsdale, flooding
closed Osborn Road at Miller Road, and downed power lines obstructed
westbound Shea Boulevard between 136th and 142nd streets. Flooding also
closed Hunt Highway between Gilbert and Lindsay roads in south Chandler.
Fire
crews fielded multiple requests for water rescue. Firefighters attended
to motorists who got stuck in floodwater at I-17 and Indian School Road
and near 36th Avenue and Bethany Home Road. A rescue crew also waded
out to escort a driver from a vehicle stuck in a flooded section of road
at 24th Street and Esplanade Lane, near Biltmore Fashion Park mall.
In
2014, when a late-summer deluge tested Valley infrastructure, some
freeways and streets disappeared under the rising water. ADOT officials
said stretches of freeway had flooded because pumping stations designed to keep them dry failed at key locations, including "depressed freeways," or underpasses.
It wasn't immediately clear whether any pump failure contributed to freeway flooding on Tuesday.
Motorists
were abandoning their cars near the intersection of Camelback Road and
35th Avenue approaching 5:30 p.m. Enough rain had fallen that a trashcan
could be seen floating in the middle of the roadway.
Moving water at a depth of 2 feet could carry most vehicles, the Flood Control District of Maricopa County warned in a tweet.
“I’ve never seen it as bad as this my whole life,” said Maryann Higley, 39, of Phoenix.
Higley,
her mother and two children pulled into the nearby Walgreens parking
lot when the water line threatened to reach the windows of their 2004
Chrysler Sebring. They were trying to return home after picking up
Higley’s 19-year-old son from work when the rainwater continued to rise.
“My daughter was worried we were going to be part of that stupid motorist law,” she said.
They
waited in the parking lot for about 45 minutes with a beach towel
draped over the broken driver-side window before trying to get back on
the road. Her mother, Melinda Higley, said they waited to get the window
fixed because it had been so dry.
Data captured by the
Flood Control District indicated that nearly 1 and 1/2 inches of rain
had fallen within an hour at Grand Canyon University Golf Course in
Phoenix's Maryvale neighborhood. The same amount had also fallen within
an hour at Camelback Road and 24th Street.
James
Sawtelle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the
average rainfall across the greater Phoenix area was between .10 inches
and 1.25 inches. Sawtelle said unlike the storm on Friday -- which posed
wind, lightning and hail risks -- Tuesday's storm presented risks from
heavy rainfall and flooding, especially in urban areas.
Radars
revealed heavy rainfall would likely cause urban and small-stream
flooding in Avondale, Goodyear, Buckeye, Estrella, Estrella Mountain
Park, Liberty, Bosque, Phoenix International Raceway, Sonoran National
Monument, Estrella Mountain Ranch, Palo Verde and Rainbow Valley and
Mobile, according to a National Weather Service report.
An urban and small-stream flood advisory issued by the weather service for Maricopa County was set to expire at 11:15 p.m.
Top rainfall totals in the Valley, Aug. 2, 2016.
- 2.91 inches, Interstate 17 and Camelback Road, Phoenix
- 2.56 inches, Grand Canyon University Golf Course, 59th and Glenrosa avenues, Phoenix
- 2.24 inches, Thomas Road and 16th Street, Phoenix
- 1.85 inches, Beeline Highway and Gilbert Road, Scottsdale
- 1.69 inches, Queen Creek and McQueen roads, Chandler