Phoenix weather shifted Monday evening as Erica Horvatin tracked storms moving west and southwest across Arizona, with flash flooding, damaging winds and quarter-sized hail reported in parts of the state. The Valley was expected to see storms late Monday evening, and rain could linger through the night into the early Tuesday morning commute.
Prescott Valley took the hardest hit in the early rounds, where intense monsoon storms brought heavy rain, damaging winds and hail. Residents in Prescott Valley were cleaning up from severe weather and lingering high waters after the storms left a history of torrential rain behind them.
Valley storm timing
For the Valley, the first round was expected late Monday evening, with blowing dust, damaging wind gusts and flash flooding possible. Temperatures were expected to fall to around 85 degrees, and Tuesday was projected to stay mostly cloudy and mainly dry.
That brief break did not end the system. Storms were expected to pop up in the mountains and High Country Tuesday afternoon, while the Valley was not expected to see rain again until late Tuesday night. A flood watch was set for eastern Arizona and northern Arizona on Tuesday because more rain falling on saturated ground could drive excessive runoff.
Arizona storm and heat swing
The setup then turned back toward heat. Storm chances were expected to lower for the Valley from Thursday through the weekend, but temperatures were expected to rise back into the 110s from Thursday through Monday. An extreme heat warning was to be in effect for the Valley and desert during that span.
Scottsdale Fire Department heat guidance listed signs to watch for if the heat intensified: “Heat Cramps: Profuse sweating, fatigue, extreme thirst, muscle cramps”; “Heat Exhaustion: Headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea/vomit, Cool/moist skin”; and “Heat Stroke: Elevated temp. +103degrees, confusion/irrational behavior, dry/hot skin, rapid shallow breathing, rapid weak pulse (shock), seizures, unconscious.”
For people in the Valley, the immediate issue is the gap between the storm lull and the heat surge. The practical window is short: rain threats ease after the late-Tuesday-night round, then the focus turns to the 110s and the heat warning later in the week.
