Flash Flood near Payson

[chumley]

Though not really hiking related, I thought I'd share... I encountered a cool flash flood on Saturday afternoon north of Payson. These photos are from North Sycamore Creek at the junction of FR32 and FR64 (The Control Road). If you're somewhat familiar with the area, this is south of the Highline Trail, between the Geronimo and Washington Park trailheads. I was happy not to be hiking at the time I encountered two intense thunderstorms in under an hour, with numerous lightning strikes extremely close (near-instant deafening thunder) and unbelievably heavy rain. All enjoyed from the comfort of my truck!

Upon returning home Sunday night, I noticed one rain gauge in the area registered 3.96" and the stream gauge at the East Verde near Childs (North Sycamore is a tributary of the East Verde) though many miles downstream, registered a spike of 5 feet and flow from 1/4 cfs to 5400 cfs. (cubic-feet-per-second)

I returned to this spot on Sunday and there's a couple of photos to show the day after. I'd say the water here was only 2-3 feet deep, but the speed was impressive. I doubt I could have crossed on foot safely. The current was extremely fast and there was plenty of debris in the flow.

Around the same time, I encountered good flow in several other creeks/washes, including Webber, Bray, and Bonita, but none approached the ferocity of this one.

[djui5]

Whoa!! Cool photos