Heaviest rain moves out of Valley, but threat of storms, flooding persists

PHOENIX – The heaviest rainfall from former Hurricane Rosa moved out of the Valley to the east Tuesday afternoon, but the threat of more downpours and flooding remained.

ABC15 meteorologist Iris Hermosillo told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Bruce St. James & Pamela Hughes that the instability and moisture in the air could cause additional thunderstorms to pop up in Rosa’s wake.

“And those could still bring some drenching rain that could lead to more flash flooding,” she said. “And with all the rain that we’ve had, the ground is soaked, so flash flooding could happen very quickly.”

As rain picked back up in the evening, flash flood warnings were issued for much of the Phoenix area until 9 p.m. and part of the Northeast Valley until 9:45 p.m.

A flash flood watch for the region remained in effect until Wednesday morning.

The chance for rain will be at least 50 percent until Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

On Thursday, there’s a 10 percent chance for showers in the morning. The forecast calls for clear skies from that afternoon until at least Saturday night.

Then there will be a 10-20 percent chance for thunderstorms from Saturday evening through Monday.

Temperatures are expected remain below normal, in the 80s, for the rest of the week.

The remnants of Rosa wreaked havoc across the Valley early Tuesday with flooding, slick roads and power outages.

Rain is more scattered than before but given how saturated the ground has become it won't take much more rain to flood…heaviest showers b/w #Phoenix and #Globe. #azwx pic.twitter.com/gK5o8jmHYG

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) October 2, 2018

By 10 a.m. it already was one of the 10 wettest days ever recorded in Phoenix, the National Weather Service said.

At around 5:30 p.m., the weather service said Tuesday had become the wettest October day ever, and the eighth wettest day ever, with 2.36 inches of rain.

And as I do this we're up to 2.36 inches. #azwx https://t.co/tuXZo5PXoV

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) October 3, 2018

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said it responded to more than 80 accidents in greater Phoenix between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Since 5 a.m., troopers have responded to over 80 crashes in Metro Phoenix. Many could have been avoided if the drivers followed the suggestions below! Luckily, they’ve all been minor to no injury crashes. All hands are on-deck and every trooper is busy. pic.twitter.com/Mv0zUlIAxK

— Dept. Public Safety (@Arizona_DPS) October 2, 2018

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