Click the play button on the video window to the right to view the storyThe monsoon season is officially over and for a lot of us here in the Valley, it will be a memorable one.
We received 5.70 inches of rain, which makes this monsoon season the 10th wettest on record and the wettest since 1984. Remember that was the season we picked up 9.56 inches of rain, which is the wettest on record.
If you add the total rainfall for the previous three monsoon seasons, it comes to only 5.60 inches.
That just goes to show you how intense of a season we had for most of the valley.
August will go down as the 3rd wettest on record with 3.55 inches of rain at Sky Harbor. We had measureable rain 12 of the 31 days and 3 daily rainfall records broken. Those records fell on August 7th (.68 inches), August 25th (.90 inches), and August 28th (94 inches).
Most of us will never forget the night of August 28th where a line of severe thunderstorms developed and grew to an amazing 60,000 feet into the atmosphere. Keep in mind most thunderstorms here in the Valley reach heights between 30,000 - 40,000 feet.
That just gives you an idea of how powerful those storms were that night. Thousand of trees were knocked down and to this day, crews are still cleaning up around the Valley. Tempe was hit the hardest that night with winds gusts at 85mph and 75mph at Sky Harbor. The ASU football practice facility was torn apart by the ferocious storm.
Every single year people are pulled to safety from rising floodwaters as they try to cross flooded washes as well as cars being washes away. The night of August 28th was no exception. A woman and her 1-year-old child had to be rescued from their car as they tries to cross floodwaters. Luckily a man was there to save them both.
No matter how many times a year we tell people NOT to cross flooded washes, roads, etc., they just don't listen. Fortunately this mom and her daughter lived to tell about it.
Just when you thought the monsoon was over, a huge dust storm sweeps across the Valley. On September 11th severe thunderstorms moved north from the Gila Bend area and collapsed. This generated winds in excess of 60 mph and sent a huge wall of dust over the Estrella Mountains and across most of the valley. Visibilities dropped to near zero and produced wind gusts over 50 mph around the Valley. Flights at Sky Harbor were grounded for a few hours. Our downtown valley cam was knocked out for about a half an hour. This dust storm turned day into night in a matter of minutes. Fortunately no accidents were reported from this storm.
Here's a complete list of total rainfall around the Valley:
Ahwatukee - 5.12 inches
Anthem - 3.12 inches
Apache Junction - 3.19 inches
Avondale - 1.81 inches
Buckeye - 2.01 inches
Carefree - 3.78 inches
Cave Creek - 3.54 inches
Chandler - 3.31 inches
Deer Valley - 2.87 inches
Downtown Phoenix - 6.88 inches
Fountain Hills - 5.79 inches
Gilbert - 3.31 inches
Glendale - 3.66 inches
Goodyear - 1.82 inches
Guadalupe - 6.46 inches
Luke AFB - 2.32 inches
Laveen - 6.22 inches
Mesa - 5.75 inches
Peoria - 3.23 inches
Paradise Valley - 3.74 inches
Queen Creek - 3.64 inches
Surprise - 2.87 inches
Scottsdale - 3.87 inches
Sun City 3.05 inches
Tempe - 6.77 inches
Tonopah - 3.62 inches
Wickenburg - 3.62 inches
