PHOENIX – As the chance of heavy rain falling in metro Phoenix lingers, the National Weather Service extended a flood watch to late Friday.

The flood watch will remain in effect until 11 p.m.

With storms anticipated throughout the day, a flash flood warning was issued for between 11:35 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. Thursday for parts of the Valley east of the Loop 202, including Mesa, Apache Junction and Gold Canyon.

The watch means conditions are favorable for flooding; the warning means flooding is imminent or already happening.

Flash Flood Warning continues for Apache Junction AZ and Gold Canyon AZ until 3:45 PM MST pic.twitter.com/XDaUM04KzS

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) July 28, 2022

Rain dropped hard in parts of Phoenix, Scottsdale and the West Valley during Thursday’s morning rush and there is a 40% chance of downpours overnight.

The weather service said at 6:20 a.m. rain fell at a rate of up to 1.5 inches per hour in north Scottsdale.

The flood watch continues in the green highlighted areas today. This includes Metro Phoenix and east/south into Gila and Pinal Counties. While not all places will see rain, those who do may experience heavy amounts in a short time. #AZwx pic.twitter.com/D3DGdU5A7j

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) July 28, 2022

The flood watch went into effect Sunday and was scheduled to end Wednesday morning.

“Most of the activity we’re seeing now is not thunderstorm, necessarily. They’re just heavy rain showers,” Phoenix weather bureau meteorologist Chris Kuhlman told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

“There’s not quite enough instability to get a lot of thunderstorm activity. … we don’t get the gusty winds. [But] You still get pretty good rainfall rates with showers, a good inch or an inch and a half if it’s sitting right on top of you for an hour.”

There is a 40% chance of rain Friday and Saturday and jumps to 50% on Sunday.

“Conditions really are not going to change all that much into the weekend,” Kuhlman said.

“It’s not going to get noticeably drier.”

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