Rain, dust, heavy wind move north through the Valley
Sep 26, 2014, 3:48 PM | Updated: 5:23 pm
PHOENIX — Rain, dust and heavy bursts of winds moved their way into the Valley for a couple hours Friday afternoon after previously hitting southern Arizona and Pinal County.
The National Weather Service Phoenix originally said to expect monsoon moisture and isolated severe storms in the area on Saturday.
A strong pacific front and monsoon moisture moving into the region to make Sat a rather stormy day! #azwx http://t.co/M69saFbRvq
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) September 25, 2014
Very high confidence that PHX area will see Tstorms on Sat. Isolated Severe storms psbl. Drive carefully! #azwx http://t.co/Z8gLyPYEAV
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) September 26, 2014
Prepare for the unexpected! Saturday's system is unusual! Huge potential for svr storms w/heavy rain; local flooding. #AZwx #NVwx…
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) September 26, 2014
Hector Vasquez of the NWS said to expect a soggy Saturday a Pacific front was expected to meet up with monsoon moisture.
“The winds are going to lift a lot of monsoon moisture into the Phoenix area and most of the state actually,” he said Thursday. “With the increasing jet stream winds, we have a good chance of heavy, widespread showers and thunderstorms — and maybe even some large hail.”
Vasquez said there’s always concern about flash flooding, mainly because the ground is still wet from other recent storms.
There’s another concern, he said: Possible tornadoes.
“There’s a lot of wind sheer forecast for Saturday early afternoon,” he said. “Some of the thunderstorm updrafts could start rotating, and that’s when they produce severe weather: either large hail, maybe an isolated weak tornado and strong outflow winds.”
The NWS Phoenix later tweeted that thunderstorms were developing Friday afternoon across southwest Maricopa County, and visibility was impacted on Valley freeways by 4 p.m.
Tstorms now developing across SW Maricopa county…from east of Gila Bend to west of Casa Grande. Hvy rain/gusts to 40mph/dust psbl. #azxw
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) September 26, 2014
The National Weather Service Tucson posted a picture on Twitter earlier in the afternoon of a funnel cloud that had developed during storms that hit in the southern part of the state.
Picture of a funnel cloud between Nogales and Patagonia. This occurred at approximately 1:30PM #azwx pic.twitter.com/CKZzYCP0Rs
— NWS Tucson (@NWSTucson) September 26, 2014
The Arizona Department of Transportation tweeted a graphic that showed various areas of the state being affected by rain clouds and other forms of severe weather in the afternoon. For example, ADOT said winds in north-central Pima County were expected to reach speeds of faster than 70 mph.
We've got weather happening all over the state, from Bouse to Pinetop, Williams to Nogales. Drive smart and be safe. pic.twitter.com/sQAbFMEaw3
— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) September 26, 2014
The Friday storms had mostly petered out in the Valley by 5 p.m., giving residents a short reprieve until rain and other strong forms of weather return on Saturday.
