First Alert Weather Day: Blowing dust, rain and hail hit Phoenix area
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A First Alert Weather Day has been declared as the monsoon came alive Thursday afternoon in the Valley.
Roughly 5,700 SRP customers are without power as of 5:30 p.m. after the storms rolled through the Phoenix area. Most were restored by early Friday morning.
Blowing dust and thunderstorms moved through Queen Creek and San Tan Valley around 4 p.m. and then hit the Chandler and Gilbert areas.
Arizona Department of Transportation cameras show poor visibility in those parts of town. Video shared on the AZFamily First Alert Weather page showed an especially dangerous drive into Apache Junction and San Tan Valley on the U.S. 60.
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport saw a 52 mph wind gust, and Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport saw winds reach 64 mph. However, the National Weather Service hasn’t issued a dust storm warning for the Phoenix area.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for parts of Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe until 5 p.m.
A popup cell hit Sky Harbor around 4:30 p.m., and the rain continued to the Loop 202 freeway and 40th Street.
After Thursday, the overall weather pattern will change as we head toward the weekend. A robust low-pressure system is coming onshore in the west, which will, at least for several days, limit the thunderstorms in Arizona, scouring the moisture out the east.
The trough of low pressure will bring rather seasonal temperatures to Arizona, especially in northern portions of the state. Any showers will be limited to the extreme eastern portions of the state.
By the middle of next week, the thunderstorm chances will begin to return to the state.
So, even though the Monsoon 2024 hasn’t been very productive this year, we still have five weeks to go.
On this date in 2003, a strong microburst hit the Queen Creek area, resulting in substantial damage.
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