HikeArizona.COM

The endless chatter of weather.

I was just lounging down on the mall enjoying this latest shower when about 500 cell phones all rang at once with the Flash Flood Warning "in your area". Good to know just about every student has a smart phone. Nobody was too concerned about a wall of water washing across campus.

Just over 6/10ths now in the last 30 min...

I'm at 56th St & Paradise Ln. It has been raining steady for 6 hours now there's about an 1" of water in our parking lot and our drainage ditches are filling up fast.

When I got to work, I had 3 vehicles written up for the windows not working ..... Tomorrow I'll have 3 write ups for wet seats

It's been raining almost all morning in Apache Junction.

No cloud bursts but the retention basins are slowly rising.

The wash behind my home which is a big one for inner city is still dry thanks to those retention basins. :thanx:

Wish I were hiking up Peralta Canyon right now as the numerous dry falls are NOT this afternoon!

I started searching for a missing Boy Scout one evening after dark from Peralta TH and slowly went around the needle and back in a real heavy rain. I could hear all the falls but could not see them. It was quite an audio presentation. Lost the trail a few times on the east side of the needle and when the trail crossed Barks Canyon I thought I was history with water past my knees. The lost Scout went out via the First Water Trail Head and was home watching TV while we were searching for him.

SuperstitionGuy wrote:I could hear all the falls but could not see them. It was quite an audio presentation.

I know that sound very well. This is what that looks like. http://hikearizona.com/photoset=23436

And then the blue sky comes out!! Looking out the window at work is hard to tell it even rained!!

think this is in the Grand Canyon..

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=657700697581348

RWStorm wrote:think this is in the Grand Canyon..

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=657700697581348

Supai. Profile says they were evacuated by helicopter yesterday.
(Also says it took them 12 hours to hike to the village )

White Mountains are definitely not in northern AZ, either, but I'd be willing to bet we are close to some kind of record rainfall for the summer, and more is expected. However it has slowed down a lot the past week or so.

just got home and yesterday I had 1/8th or so in my rain gauge; it now says 1 and 1/2 inches and my bird bath is nearly overflowing. (Phx at Union Hills and 16th St just south of the 101)

SuperstitionGuy wrote:It's been raining almost all morning in Apache Junction

Shortly after noon I was parked on Apache Trail three times waiting out running washes between Vista View (of Weavers Needle) and First Water Road for over 90 minutes.

Each time as the flows subsided a bit and people started to go through still-running washes a Greyhound bus lead the way. The second wash even the bus slid sideways a bit so we waited a bit longer, only to catch up to the bus sitting at the 50' wide/5-6' deep river flowing across the road less than 100 yards from First Water Road. Eventually it slowed enough for the bus and a few of us in 4x4's to cross. Although there was no more water running across the road from there to AJ, the was over a foot tall dirt mound across the road by the old goldmine town and plenty of trash on the roads.

Back closer to Tortilla Flat there were many rocks and a few large boulders on the road.

It didn't look like we had that much rain in East Mesa, but when I checked the gauge after I got home it was over 1-1/2"

A Greyhound bus? I presume an old one, converted into an RV?

I have friends who are on the river right now. I'm driving their truck out there to pick them up at Pearce Ferry (Lake Mead, north of Kingman) on Saturday. I just looked at today's forecast for the area, and I figure they will be WET today. Last year when we were on the river during Sept-Oct there was a storm during the last few days, when we were well below Diamond Creek, in the historic Lake Mead area, where there are few campsites, and most of them are MUDDY and not too charming. Also there are the big silt banks which, when oversoaked, are likely to calve like glaciers into the river, bringing those big deciduous trees down like chopping axes. The nicknamed "Lake Mead National Forest" has to be seen to be believed--miles of green woods on top of the silt banks. Best to keep your boat to the midstream.

It's raining in Round Valley. I am thinking of visiting the Supe's office of the Apache-Sitgreaves NF, down in Springerville, to find out if they keep long-term precipitation records here. Also, perhaps the Springerville Municipal Airport. Precip records for Springerville-Eagar are never published in the local newspaper, at least, not that I have ever seen.

Edit: Here are some records, although not up-to-date. So far, I haven't found anythind specific to this summer:
Springerville:
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMONtpre.pl?az8162
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimat ... h/USAZ0220
Eagar:
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/Histor ... n=USAZ0061

azbackpackr wrote:A Greyhound bus? I presume an old one, converted into an RV?

Nope, a shiny new-looking bus complete with the running Greyhound logo.

At the first wash many of the tourist/passengers got out to look at the running water, which is when I realized all were male and although I could say for sure I believe they were Russian or at least Eastern-European. The crisply-dressed driver was distinctly Asian and was NOT happy with the scene at all... maybe they had to get back for a flight? And being held up for something as simple as water flowing across the road just wasn't acceptable.

The bus was first to drive through the first two washes but MCSO was at the third and was NOT going to allow the bus to go through until it was deemed safe, and it was a Forest Service F-250 4x4 that was the first one allowed to go through.

After a morning of hiking in an on-again off-again drizzle northwest of Tortilla Flat and no reason to get home fast, I just sat back and read a book while watching all the folks fit-to-be-tied they couldn't get to somewhere else they'd rather be. I shot a short video at the 'river' across Apache Trail near First Water Road, but it started pouring again so not wanting to lose a third camera to water damage I figured I'd seen washes running before and will likely see many more so put it away and went back to reading.

It's great when you are detained by unforseen circumstances but have a good book to read and the time and patience to enjoy yourself.

Checked the rainlog co-op reports, some wide spread and impressive totals all over Arizona for the last 24 hours, ending this AM at 0700. Pretty good totals up in northern NM, too, as well as in the Gila region. Rain is just getting over in to the Tularosa basin this evening. I can't wait to it leaves!

Highway 24 through Ute Pass is closed for the second time today for flash floods. The rain keeps coming.

Holloman AFB had close to 1& 1/2 inches of rain from Tuesday to yesterday. The Alamogordo-White Sands station finally came back online, but after the morning and previous overnight rain. This morning there are low black clouds hanging around the mountains below 6,000', and it just started to rain.

Manitou School District cancelled school today due to last nights flash flood damage. Flood day? We are still under a flash flood watch today, meaning they have cdot workers standing by ready to close the 24 as soon as any of the rain gauges trip.

Guess they tripped cause the highway is closed.

That might just do it for us here in the Valley:

IT DOES SEEM THE MONSOON MOISTURE WILL BE OUT OF REACH FOR OUR CWA LIKELY THROUGH ALL OF NEXT WEEK AND POSSIBLY THE REST OF THE SEASON AS IT IS KEPT AT BAY BY THE WESTERLY FLOW.

I hope this is last of the summer rains. It's been a wet summer, reminds me of the east coast. I prefer winter snow and rain, followed by sunny dry days. Now, I want it to clear, and it to turn to perfect September weather for the rest of the month.

Today was the first morning since spring that it was cooler outside than inside