Dust, storms sweep Phoenix on 1st day of monsoon season

A wall of dust swept across the West Valley on Monday afternoon as monsoon season arrived with blowing dust, spotty thunderstorms and triple-digit heat to the Valley.

The National Weather Service issued a dust advisory for Maricopa County after trained weather spotters saw a dust wall stretching from southwest of Wickenburg through Surprise to near Deer Valley Airport. Wind gusts topped 40 mph.

Visibility dropped below two miles across portions of Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria, Goodyear, Buckeye and surrounding communities. Drivers on Interstate 10, Interstate 17 and U.S. 60 faced hazardous conditions.

“We’ve had thunderstorms developing over the high terrain north of Phoenix, and they’ve been slowly drifting southward,” National Weather Service meteorologist Gabriel Lojero said to KTAR News 92.3 FM. “We’ve seen an outflow boundary move through along the West Valley that’s been kicking up some dust.”

Thunderstorms are developing west of Phoenix near Surprise, Peoria and Glendale. The main hazards with these storms is strong winds and lightning. 4:37 PM #azwx pic.twitter.com/N6EiDzCbxO

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) June 15, 2026

Temperatures hit 110 degrees at Sky Harbor, the second time this year the mark has been reached. That is nearly five degrees above the mid-June average.

Farther north, flash flood warnings were issued for Gila and Yavapai counties after storms dropped up to 2.5 inches of rain in some areas.

Drier air is expected to push in by midweek, dropping temperatures closer to normal.

The official monsoon season runs through Sept. 30.

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