Storms knock down trees, power lines across metro Phoenix; more rain likely to come

PHOENIX – Storms brought down trees and power lines around metro Phoenix and tens of thousands of people were without electricity Sunday night.

Another round of storms was predicted for Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service said, and a flood watch issued for part of the Valley.

More than 42,000 customers combined for Arizona Public Service and Salt River Project were affected by outages.

As of 7:30 a.m., about 630 APS customers and 430 SRP customers were still without power.

Lines were down from Buckeye to Scottsdale to San Tan Valley, SRP’s outage map showed at one point.

The Phoenix Fire Department reported crews responded to multiple calls about line downs because of the storm.

The aftermath of the storm prompted the Arizona Department of Transportation to restrict westbound Interstate 10 to two lanes for an inspection around 7:30 a.m. The roadway was narrowed between U.S. 60 and 48th Street while crews with the Broadway Curve Improvement Project inspect the new 48th Street bridge for potential damage.

The roadway reopened shortly before 9 a.m.

There is no estimated time for I-10 to open fully.

Winds of up to 76 mph rushed past Phoenix Sky Harbor and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport, the National Weather Service said.

Nearly an inch fell at the Mesa Gateway gauge, and almost three-quarters of an inch of rain fell at Sky Harbor.

“The 0.62 inches makes it the largest one-day total [at Sky Harbor] so far this year,” Phoenix weather bureau meteorologist Gabriel Lojero told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

“A lot of places saw measurable rainfall, so that was a little bit of good news.”

The drenching was a mix of remnants of Tropical Storm Kay and the monsoon storm season, he said.

The Flood Control District of Maricopa County rainfall map showed Queen Creek was hit fairly hard at 1.26 inches; Falcon Field in Mesa collected 1.02 inches; a gauge at Thomas Road and 48th Street in Phoenix picked up 1.02 inches.

Forecasters expected more showers and thunderstorms later Monday, the brunt of it expected to fall across the east Valley and beyond.

Another active late afternoon and evening is in store once again as strong to locally severe storms are likely to develop, mainly from Phoenix and points east. Remain weather alert later today and be prepared to take action should warnings be issued! #azwx pic.twitter.com/19ddvYOXzo

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) September 12, 2022

The potential for heavy rain could lead to localized flooding, Lojero said.

The flood watch covers Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, Sun City West, north Scottsdale, Anthem, Apache Junction and New River.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.

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