Part of the biggest thing that happened here in Phoenix today was this dust storm that swept through Chandler like a locomotive at around 1600 this arvo. The pleasure of living in the desert.
A massive Monsoonal thunderstorm powered its way across the Valley of the Sun on Monday breaking an amazing 119-day streak without any rainfall officially recorded in Phoenix Airport.
This photo [above] I took from my front porch, you can only just make out the mules in the paddock to the right, then looking towards the left you can hardly see my RV through the dust, my RV [mobile home] is the first one that you can see.
The storm, which also brought severe wind, dust and hail in many areas of metropolitan Phoenix, also broke the record for the most rainfall ever recorded for July 9 at Sky Harbor International Airport at 0.54 inches, the National Weather Service said.
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| My view of the Monsoonal front that brought a huge dust storm followed by heavy rain, the first for Phoenix in 119-days |
This photo [above] I took from my front porch, you can only just make out the mules in the paddock to the right, then looking towards the left you can hardly see my RV through the dust, my RV [mobile home] is the first one that you can see.
The Valley of the Sun also got some much needed heat relief through the storm, which dropped Phoenix temperatures about 25ºF degrees from above 100ºF degrees in half an hour.
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| Damage from wild wind and rain caused debris from the Airport Inn's roof in Phoenix to hit several parked cars in the area. |
Phoenix's official rainfall total is recorded at the airport, which had not recorded an official measure in recent days even as other parts of the Valley had rainfall. Rain was officially last tallied in Phoenix on March 11 this year.
Hail was also reported in nearby Mesa. The storm continued moving west toward the rest of the East Valley, Scottsdale and Phoenix, leaving some parts of west Mesa with more than three-quarters of an inch of rain and Tempe with just more than half an inch.
The storm continued moving westward by early Monday evening but had diminished significantly by the time it reached cities such as Glendale and Surprise.
National Weather Service meteorologist Mark O'Malley said the storm was a "weather disturbance" from New Mexico that found favorable conditions to develop into severe thunderstorms once it hit Arizona moving westward.
Although there are chances of rain every day through the rest of the week, O'Malley said Monday's storm would likely be the largest.
"You don't have too many days in a year where you get this type of outcome with this much dust and severe storms like this," he said.
Above: Local Fox 10 Phoenix TV storm coverage
Hail was also reported in nearby Mesa. The storm continued moving west toward the rest of the East Valley, Scottsdale and Phoenix, leaving some parts of west Mesa with more than three-quarters of an inch of rain and Tempe with just more than half an inch.
The storm continued moving westward by early Monday evening but had diminished significantly by the time it reached cities such as Glendale and Surprise.
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| The sand-storm moves across Tempe, Phoenix adjacent the Arizona State University |
National Weather Service meteorologist Mark O'Malley said the storm was a "weather disturbance" from New Mexico that found favorable conditions to develop into severe thunderstorms once it hit Arizona moving westward.
Although there are chances of rain every day through the rest of the week, O'Malley said Monday's storm would likely be the largest.
"You don't have too many days in a year where you get this type of outcome with this much dust and severe storms like this," he said.
Above: Local Fox 10 Phoenix TV storm coverage
