Monsoon storm rolls into Valley for the first time in a month
Aug 28, 2019, 9:00 PM | Updated: Aug 29, 2019, 5:41 am
(Twitter Photo/@AToZRetail)
PHOENIX — The return of monsoon season made its presence felt across the Valley on Wednesday evening.
The first seasonal storm in a month hit the Phoenix area with rain, lightning, flooding and power outages.
Several vehicles were flooded and stranded at the underpass at Greenway Road and Interstate 17, according to ADOT.
Lightning strikes in Phoenix caused three separate house fires, Phoenix Fire Capt. Danny Gile said in an email.
About 15,000 SRP customers in Mesa were without power at 9 p.m., according to SRP’s outage map.
Impressive electrical show in the Valley tonight pic.twitter.com/Ey4PsZMiu0
— Jim Cross (@Crossfire923) August 29, 2019
Another 2,000 customers in south Phoenix were without power, according to the outage map.
By early Thursday about 300 customers were still without electricity.
APS outages in the North Valley affected about 5,000 customers, according to the company’s outage map, but that number was down to about 250 hours later.
Some areas in the East Valley were also seeing reduced visibility because of dust.
WEATHER: We are seeing some blowing dust and reduced visibility on I-10 in south Chandler. pic.twitter.com/LpbrLmAl3h
— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) August 29, 2019
The East Valley was hit first, with parts of Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert receiving heavy rains beginning around 8:30 p.m.
A gauge near Recker and McLellan roads in Mesa recorded 0.55 inches of rain in an hour.
Several areas in the Valley received more than a half an inch of rain and some received more than an inch on Wednesday evening, according to Maricopa County rain gauges.
Before Wednesday’s storm, the Phoenix area had received the fourth-lowest amount of rain to date during a monsoon season in history.
The monsoon season officially ends Sept. 30.
Storms moving in now!
But, one night of storms does not a monsoon make. 🙂
So far, this monsoon has been mostly MIA.
FULL STORY: https://t.co/kazl1YE2zz#abc15wx #azwx pic.twitter.com/tS8c0IV7BS
— Amber Sullins (@AmberSullins) August 29, 2019