Rain and hail hit Phoenix area, grounding flights at Sky Harbor

PHOENIX — After a string of severe thunderstorm warnings rang Thursday afternoon, rain and hail soon followed.

The monsoon storm started primarily in north Phoenix, around Lake Pleasant on Interstate 17, towards Surprise and near the Fountain Hills area.

1/4 inch size hail and non stop gully washer in north Phoenix right now drive very cautiously pic.twitter.com/KrWEPCeIz3

— Detour Dan (@DetourDanKTAR) August 3, 2017

The weather started to blow south and more of the Phoenix metro area got hit soon after.

Wet microburst hit with 50-60mph winds and horizontal street flooding rains 23rd lane and Carefree Highway. #azwx pic.twitter.com/iYOox0rFjJ

— John Henz (@papahenz_wx) August 3, 2017

Rain started to pour close to the Phoenix area around 3:30 p.m. and within the hour had landed as much as .08 inches in some spots. At about 5:30 p.m., over an inch of rain fell in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. About .67 inches of rain had fallen in Tempe around the same time.

#Scottsdale, Central #Phoenix & #Tempe currently getting heavy rainfall and strong wind! Do not drive through flooded roadways! pic.twitter.com/oPbFGYyxVl

— FCDMC Flood Info (@FCDFloodInfo) August 4, 2017

At 5:50 p.m., the area just north of the Phoenix Zoo had seen 1.85 inches of rain. The zoo announced Thursday night they are closed Friday to clean up all of the weather damage.

Downtown Phoenix was hit by 1.22 inches of rain in less than 30 minutes, as of 5:40 p.m. There was also a small tornado spotted south of the area just after 5 p.m.

Flash Flooding likely in central Phoenix & East Valley. 1-2" of rain fell downtown in <30 minutes! Don't drive through moving water. #azwx pic.twitter.com/sM7L7rsono

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) August 4, 2017

Flights from Sky Harbor International Airport were all grounded at about 5:30 p.m., according to an airport spokesperson.

Before they grounded all flights, planes departing Phoenix to New Jersey, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle were all experiencing delays.

Manhole covers at Sky Harbor terminal four are overflowing with water. #azwx @azcentral pic.twitter.com/TWtmHVVQvP

— Michael Chow (@photochowder) August 4, 2017

At about 6:15 p.m., departing and arriving flights had resumed, with delays still in effect. Most delays were finished by about 8:30 p.m.

Takeoffs and landings have resumed @PHXSkyHarbor . Lots of delays-check flight status whether flying or picking up a passenger. pic.twitter.com/OYFiYR6e71

— PHX Sky Harbor (@PHXSkyHarbor) August 4, 2017

US 60 EB at McClintock: The highway is flooded. Take an alternate route. #phxtraffic #azwx pic.twitter.com/GVvUWFBl7A

— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) August 4, 2017

U.S. 60 EB at McClintock Avenue was cleared in both directions at 7:10 p.m.

Several severe thunderstorm warnings were announced by National Weather Service Phoenix, with many of them in the Cave Creek area.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning continues for Cave Creek AZ, Carefree AZ until 4:45 PM MST pic.twitter.com/v6Jtf9DhXs

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) August 3, 2017

Others were later announced in Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Chandler and Apache Junction. A flash flood warning was put into place at 5 p.m. for the Anthem area that will last until 8 p.m.

The weather even caused a roof to collapse at a shopping center near 44th Street and McDowell Road, according to the Phoenix Fire Department.

All-in-all, many places got well over an inch of rain, including Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Pinal County, Glendale, north Phoenix, Fountain Hills, central Phoenix and Aguila Valley.

Power outages were reported by APS and SRP Thursday afternoon, although neither specified it was caused by the weather.

Just west of State Route 51 at Bell Road, APS reported 14 outages that were affecting just short of 13,000 customers, as of 6:20 p.m.

Different spots around the Valley were experiencing power outages from SRP, including just under 1,500 customers in Glendale, near the cross-section of 59th and Olive avenues early in the storm. East Valley SRP outages started to flood the system by 5:45 p.m., with over 8,000 customers getting affected.

Quite the downpour with lots of wind and thunder in north Phoenix!
It’s certainly got the kids excited. @KTAR923 @NWSPhoenix #azwx pic.twitter.com/KGJOh302hS

— Jim Sharpe 📢 (@JimSharpe) August 3, 2017

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