Scattered spring showers, some hail hits East Valley
Mar 18, 2024, 6:18 PM | Updated: 7:33 pm
Parts of the East Valley saw storms develop, bringing pea-sized hail and 40-mph winds. (ADOT camera screenshot)
(ADOT camera screenshot)
PHOENIX — A scattered storm system brought strong wind gusts, rain and hail to parts of the East Valley on Monday evening.
Storms developed around Mesa and Apache Junction in the early evening, bringing gusts of up to 40 mph along with pea-sized hail, the National Weather Service said.
Those areas received as much 0.28 inches of rain over the course of the system, according to the Maricopa County Flood Control District.
Early on Monday morning, the National Weather Service forecasted showers and storm activity to develop in higher parts of Arizona in the afternoon leading to isolated storms in the Valley in the evening.
Katherine Berlisavich, a meteorologist with NWS, doesn’t expect the rain to continue throughout the night.
“Most of the activity out there tonight has quieted off and it’s come to an end around the Phoenix metro,” she told KTAR News 92.3 FM at around 7 p.m. “There are still a few cells in the higher terrain, but that should be coming to an end here over the next hour.”
There aren’t storms or rain expected for the Valley this evening, she added.
“There’s still some elevated wind gusts out there and that will probably be the main concern,” she said. Those winds, which will be 25-30 mph, are expected to dissipate later during the night, she added.
This spurt of rainfall is pretty normal for Phoenix around this time of year as we head into spring, Berlisavich added.
“The low pressure that’s causing these cells, these storms, is still going to be hanging around through about Wednesday,” she said. “We’ll have to watch for some additional rain showers and isolated storms around the same time tomorrow night.”
The rain will dry out by the end of the week, she said.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Brandon King contributed to this report.
