Atmosphere Comparison

[Jim]

The endless chatter of weather.

[chumley]

Sky Harbor just reported .76" of rainfall in 11 minutes.

[outdoor_lover]

Been some pretty exciting driving this week. Spent Sunday night (9/21) at Bartlett Lake. Woke up to really gray skies that were getting ominously blacker by the minute. Decided it was time to leave and although it had rained a bit overnight, it wasn't raining at the Horseshoe turnoff when I got there. But apparently it had been raining everywhere else around there in torrents. I barely made it out. Bartlett Dam road was a real mess and every wash was flashing. Tons of county trucks and front loaders on the sides of the road, but they hadn't closed anything. It was a bit sketchy. If I had waited just a bit longer to leave, I'm pretty sure I would have just been stuck there until things subsided. Cave Creek Road was down to one lane, as the other lane was a river. Got up on the Mogollon Rim at Woods Canyon that afternoon and I guess I missed the 24 hour rain up there by just a couple of hours.

Fast forward to today, the rain started up on the rim last night and never stopped. Got up and drove down this morning and it was a tough drive too. Drove through quite a few torrential downpours, got hailed on in Payson and more torrential rain all the way down to the valley. On the Beeline, just south of Fountain Hills, traffic slowed tojust 10 MPH as visibility went down to 20 feet. it seemed like I was barely ahead of the storm when I finally got into town. Going thru South Scottsdale and across the Buttes into Phoenix was pretty intense. I ran into major street flooding up until I got past Indian School on 44th headed to Paradise Valley. Haven't seen this kind of rain and flooding in a long time here in town. Scottsdale had 2.39" as of 4:00pm and it rained more after that. My friend was stuck at Sky Harbor most of the day trying to get back east. The Airport had a Ground Stop until at least 6:00 P.M.

Wild Weather. And as nice as this rain is, getting it all at once like this doesn't do the desert/forest much good. It comes down so hard and fast, it just runs off and the vegetation doesn't get the benefit of it soaking in.

[Nighthiker]

Over two inches of rain at my home in Payson, quite the Thunder storm the past two nights after 2 am. Lot of Lightning SE of Payson but the Thunderstorm North of Payson was quite the rumbler.

[xsproutx]

Highest rain day in Phoenix in 7 years apparently and took us from the 2nd or 3rd driest year ever to 'average'. Like said above though, not the most useful way to get it. Got 1.8" at my house
https://www.azfamily.com/2025/09/26/wet ... out-power/

[RedRoxx44]

Sadly apparently 3 people died in the Globe Miami flooding with SAR on site; the Mayor is declaring a state of emergency there.

[chumley]

The deluge in the valley pushed the seasonal "monsoon" totals to mostly at or just above normal.

Notable deficits remain around Tucson, the White Mountains, Kaibab Plateau, and the reservation lands.

The Yuma area looks great in the percentage column because 300% of next to nothing is doesn't take much to achieve

[chumley]

The Maricopa County Flood Control District monitors rainfall at 369 locations across the county. By averaging the results of all those gauges, we get a more detailed picture of rainfall across the valley versus just the official gauge at Sky Harbor airport.

Here's a handful of images that illustrate the data from the 2025 monsoon from across the entire flood control district.

[chumley]

Tropical moisture is looking to combine with a couple of other atmospheric features to bring some potential moistitude later this week and into next week. The models are all over the place but at this point it looks like we might at least see a cloud.

[RedRoxx44]

I have decided that for 2025- May was like April, June was like May, July was like June, August was just nasty and hot, September was like August and now October is figuring it out.

[outdoor_lover]

@RedRoxx44
It's a trend for the last couple of years except it's now moving even later. Another couple of years and the monsoons will be September thru November.

[RedRoxx44]

According to the current models 84% chance of rain in the hood Sat and Sun. Border is a little more variable at 74%. Lets see if Priscilla weeble wobbles. Racing to get the weed preemergent on.

[chumley]

@RedRoxx44 One of the major models is calling for insane rainfall amounts in the 5-10 inch range for the southeast quadrant of the state, based primarily on the moisture from the tropical system that is following behind Priscilla and should hit late in the weekend or early next week. Seems tough to believe that will end up being the reality, but it's something to keep an eye on. Is kayaking on I-19 done in kilometers?

[RedRoxx44]

Humid as all heck with the yard work. Will ready the Jeep just in case. I know where there are some good waterfalls and pools in the southland; if the roads aren't flooded out. Planned on a backpacking trip next week to New Mexico but with rain looking at the Galiuros on the southern end since water is at a premium there.

[Alston_Neal]

After the last deluge I discoverd some moisture incursions. I'm tarred up and ready to go now. Although I do see a quart of Ceiling White in my destiny.

[Nighthiker]

Little over a 1 1/2 inch of rain overnight with a thunderstorm between 2am 3am.

[azbackpackr]

@Nighthiker
Nothing in Eagar yet. It's supposed to rain this afternoon, overnight, and tomorrow, but the radar shows the plume way to the west of us.

[hikeaz]

Been lightly raining off-n-on in Pinetop for +/- 90 min. No significant accumulation..... yet.

[RedRoxx44]

Welp, just light rain off and on last day or so here. Forecast Sun/Mon for an area of interest near the border 3.5 inches. I'm planning on sneaking in later today to car camp high since there will be some suspect washes I want to avoid if the forecast comes true.

[Nighthiker]

Two inches overnight at my home in Payson. Concerned about possible landslide on 87 and 88. Have trips to the valley the next couple of weeks.

[azbackpackr]

Steady moderate rain in Eagar, the past hour or so. We didn't receive the early wave yesterday. I just heard that the LCR at Cameron, which is running at over 4400 cfs, is at its highest value ever recorded for this date.

Being on a river trip or backpacking trip in Grand Canyon right now would be...interesting. Am I getting too old for that type of adventure? I'm glad to be at home, listening to the rain, and playing my banjo and guitar.