Weather system leaves thousands of Valley residents without power, grounds flights

PHOENIX — Parts of the Valley received a spattering of rain, dust and wind on Sunday, leaving thousands without power and flights out of Sky Harbor Airport grounded.

Storms rolled in around 3 p.m. as dust blew into the west side of metro Phoenix with 50 mph speeds.

Dense blowing dust and winds up 50 MPH is traveling southeast along the 303 and near and west of the I-17. Remember to pull aside, stay alive. #azwx @ArizonaDOT 📸 pic.twitter.com/uQIP71OWMR

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) July 21, 2024

The storms blew in as a special weather statement from the National Weather Service was active on the east side of the Valley.

A special weather statement has been issued for Phoenix AZ, Mesa AZ and Chandler AZ until 3:45 PM MST pic.twitter.com/y2yz63nbKZ

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) July 21, 2024

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at Sky Harbor shortly after at 3:26 p.m.

Over the course of the storms, thousands in metro Phoenix and its surrounding areas lost power, according to APS. Paradise Valley and Chandler were hit particularly hard by outages.

By the storm’s completion, northmost parts of Maricopa County had received over a half-inch or even a full inch of rain, while most of central Phoenix was kept down to less than a tenth of an inch.

Locations along the Agua Fria River — Sun City, El Mirage and Litchfield Park for example — all received about a quarter of an inch as the storm wound around the west end of metro Phoenix.

Past the opposite side of the Valley between Gold Canyon and Superior, Queen Valley saw a spattering of 1.1 inches after a flash flood warning from a separate system.

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