HikeArizona.COM

The endless chatter of weather.

@The Eagle
@chumley

Careful with all these reports my guess is half of HAZ will not drive on I-17 for the next nine years out of fear of flash flooding and bridges collapsing...they already have bow hunters and bear to worry about, now a poorly engineered drainage and bridge system to add to that list of mounting fears...

Agua Fria to 38,400cfs. Gauge height is now 25-feet. It's still rising, and the radar shows continued heavy rain there.

"Normal" is under 1cfs and about 1-foot deep (which is where it was earlier this morning).

Was Lake Pleasant full? Because if it wasn't it will be tonight.

Nothing like super charged moisture from a tropical storm interacting with a westerly spinner dropping down from the NW to make things interesting! I'm getting a wee bit jealous down here in Tuscon. ;)

I have been working on my puter all morning (not HAZ) and have heard no thunder or rain and I just checked and my yard is dry as a bone. I think you all are just pulling our leg and are wishing you had that rain. If what you report is true I doubt however that the Sup's saw any of it. So sad....

@SuperstitionGuy
Rainfall totals show Apache Junction with 0.0" of Rain, but the Supes look to have received some rain (up to .25") in most areas.

Not a whole lot of rain in Tempe either ... the sun is shining now.

The Agua Fria crested at 40,000cfs at 10:45 making it the #6 highest flow since recording began in 1970 (save for the random 1919 historical-high of 85000cfs.)

I hope the folks in Black Canyon City didn't suffer too much property damage.

The I17 NB has 1 lane open at Happy Valley now, but it's closed north of the 303 because of a mud slide at Table Mesa Rd.

Have a trip to the valley shortly, was thinking about stopping by the Rock Springs Café. May have to plan an alternative.

chumley wrote:The Agua Fria crested at 40,000cfs at 10:45 making it the #6 highest flow since recording began in 1970

Had to run up to Tatum & 101 this morning from Avondale. It was one of the most impressive rains I've seen in Arizona up there. Came back to Avondale and my sidewalk and grass are bone dry. Just now getting a sprinkle or two, but not much.

Downtown Phoenix at my office is getting whacked...I may need to borrow the SS Dave1 to get to my car.

Nice to have someone else getting the flash flooding for a change. However, I may be speaking too soon judging by 30 second cracks of thunder in the pass.

Rain here in Williams all day long. Hoping for a bit of help for our little water storage reservoirs around the town: City, Santa Fe, Kaibab, Dogtown, White Horse, Cataract, to name several of them. All have been very low. Williams has been on water emergency, with no watering of lawns or washing of cars allowed. Of course, we've had quite a bit of rain over the past month. But need a lot more to fill up all those little lakes.

More!

@rwstorm
More here would be nice. Looking at the teeveebox I think there are a lot of people in the north valley who have had more than enough for a while.

I'm not waving a white flag. I can understand those in North Valley to New River doing so however.

Here at Cave creek and Cafefree it hasn't rained for about a hour but it poured earlier. Here's a picture just before it hit, the first time

Didn't get ours at work in South Scottsdale until just after noon but had a river on the roads through the parking lot... and now our lakes at work have water in them which they didn't this morning.. even though it did pour just as I got to work .. Was one of the hardest ones we have seen here in a long time.. you can tell you are in AZ when it is raining that hard and no one has windows in their offices they all go rushing out to the hallway with the big windows to watch it rain... had 1/4 inch of rain in the gauge this morning in Payson will see what it is when we get home..

Let's add it all up so far:

tibber wrote: Union Hills and Cave Creek area
Aug 2 - 3/4" in an hour
Aug 3 - almost 1/2" in an hour
Aug 12 - 3/4" in an hour
Aug 13 - was raining this AM but don't suspect it lasted long. (update 8-14-14, gauge added another 1/4" in the AM)

Aug 19 - 2 7/8 (includes 1" between 6-6:50AM)

Our 132 unit community drainage is full and NOT draining.

@joe bartels
It was hail, dime to nickel sized, and it hurt, a lot. It was pretty nasty, as far as storms on the Peaks have been, for me. The trail was flooded up to 6 inches deep with water, and there were piles of hail everywhere. There was also a muddy torrent rushing down a ski run near the lodges. So much for another summit of Humphrey, or a visit to the springs, as planned.
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Part of why I want the fall dry season to start, is becuase that is when the weather is nicer for hiking. The forecast multi-day dry out never happened. History in Flagstaff should remind me that this is often the case. The dry out 10 days ago is great when you get it, but impossible to predict. Last year, monsoon season went well into late September, and I remember thunderstorms being pushed out of the SW by a cold front that dropped snow in the San Juan when I was headed to San Luis Peak. In 2011, it was also a late running monsoon, with high levels of activity in Flagstaff almost until I moved out on 9/30/11, and even a resurgence right after I moved into Kayenta, during the first few days of October. I'm hoping for it to be more like 2012 or 2010, when the monsoon died nice and early, before the first half of September was done.

tibber wrote:Our 132 unit community drainage is full and NOT draining.

Expect mosquitoes!!!
I had quite a few of them on me in Flagstaff, something I don't remember much of when I lived there. It was super green, with the now over 8 inches of rain they have had this summer so far.