How Pacific hurricanes affect Arizona’s monsoons
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Wednesday was the official start of Eastern Pacific hurricane season. While it’s fairly uncommon for Pacific hurricanes to make it into Arizona as intact tropical systems, the remnants and moisture from these storms often impact us in the late monsoon season.
In September last year, Hurricane Jova grew into a Category 5 hurricane over the eastern Pacific, but it never actually made landfall. However, remnant moisture from Jova combined with daytime heat in the Valley to produce a supercell thunderstorm. Downdrafts from this thunderstorm produced widespread damage across the Valley, including snapped power poles, thousands of power outages and even flipped over some Cessna planes at the Mesa Airport.
In September 2014, a tropical squeeze play was in effect. Pacific Hurricane Norbert and Atlantic Tropical Storm Dolly spun moisture in the southwestern US, leading to widespread flooding in the Valley. In certain areas, roads and neighborhoods were flooded and some schools were closed. The all-time daily rainfall record was set in Phoenix with 3.30 inches.
Check out how this compares the 2nd and 3rd rainiest days on record:
Top 3 Rainiest Days in Phoenix
1) September 8, 2014 — 3.30″
2) July 2, 1911 — 2.81″
3) August 27, 1951 — 2.43″
As we get later into the monsoon season, Arizona will keep a close eye on Pacific hurricanes. Even if they don’t make it very close, their remnants can have big impacts.
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