Cold weather system brings steady streams of showers over metro Phoenix
Mar 31, 2024, 9:00 AM | Updated: 6:29 pm
(File photo by Ahmad Al-Rubare/AFP via Getty Images)
PHOENIX — Easter morning was off to a wet start for the metro Phoenix area.
Much of the Valley recorded about a third of an inch of rain by 5:30 p.m.
Rain gauges in Mesa, Gilbert and Tempe recorded more than half an inch of rain, according to the Flood Control District of Maricopa County.
By the evening, eastern parts of Mesa near Usery Mountain Regional Park took a battering of 0.63 inches of rain by 5:30 p.m. Further east near Lost Dutchman State Park, they received three quarters of an inch, the most across the Valley.
Parts of Phoenix saw as many as 0.49 inches by 5:30 p.m., while areas in Glendale and Tempe were closer to a third of an inch.
Among East Valley areas, Chandler and Gilbert were the driest, each receiving less than 0.3 inches by 5:30 p.m.
Because of the prolonged rain throughout the day, the high temperature of 65 degrees was recorded just after midnight before the rain started, according to NWS Phoenix.
The main band of rain impacting Phoenix through the morning has moved off to the east. Convective showers and storms are now firing up in SE CA to west and southwest of Phoenix. Convection is expected to continue to develop over the next several hours. #azwx #cawx pic.twitter.com/oHUEMIkwvo
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) March 31, 2024
The band of rain is associated with a cold front that brought snow to parts of northern Arizona, NWS said.