WEATHER

Fifth monsoon storm in six days hits Phoenix metro area

BrieAnna J. Frank
The Republic | azcentral.com
Storm and dust clouds in central Phoenix, Aug. 12, 2018.

A fresh round of monsoon storms hit the Phoenix metro area Sunday evening, knocking down power lines, delaying and diverting flights and prompting water rescues.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe just before 6 p.m. as the storm moved in from the east.

Nearly two inches of rain fell in an area near Sun City West, while central Scottsdale saw almost 1.5 inches during the storm, according to the Maricopa County Flood Control District.

MORE:Phoenix area expected to get break from severe monsoon storms

Other heavily-hit areas included the Dobson Ranch area of Mesa, which saw more than half an inch of rain, and some parts of south Scottsdale that saw nearly 0.75 inches.

Officials said a second round of storms would be possible overnight as a storm system near Black Canyon City moved toward the Valley.

The best chances for activity in the north Valley were expected to be between 10 p.m. and midnight, meteorologist Jaret Rogers said.

Peoria fire crews rescued three people who were stuck in their vehicle after attempting to drive through a flooded street near 155th Avenue and Jomax Road, Peoria Fire Department Batallion Chief Steven Kelley said.

Kelley said the slow-moving water on the street was three feet deep and stalled their engine as they tried to drive through it.

No injuries were reported, he said.

The monsoon was hitting the Payson area by the early evening hours, with officials warning that the storms could bring golf ball-size hail and 70 mph winds.

The weather service urged residents to take shelter, warning that any people or animals outside in the storm would likely be injured.

The Arizona Department of Transportation reported that it was hailing near the US 60 and Loop 202 just after 5:45 p.m.

The storm diverted 26 flights from the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and caused departure delays averaging 1.5 hours after the runways reopened, an airport spokesperson said.

Around 12,000 Salt River Project customers were without power as of about 9:30 p.m. because of the storm. Most of the outages were in Scottsdale and Tempe, according to SRP's outage maps.

Arizona Public Service reported outages impacting several thousand customers at that time but it was unclear if they were storm-related. The affected area included parts of Arizona State University.

Both utilities have been responding to storm damage, with Sunday's storm marking the fifth storm in six days.

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