PHOENIX — After several days of hail, flash flooding and the most tornado warnings northern Arizona has seen in more than a decade, the storm system that battered the state has moved out.
National Weather Service meteorologist Mark O’Malley told KTAR News on Thursday that rain would leave metro Phoenix by sunset and push into the eastern mountains before clearing Arizona overnight. Valley lows were expected in the upper 50s to lower 60s.
The system’s last day was still busy. A tornado warning was issued Thursday afternoon near Show Low in Navajo County, and a tornado watch covered parts of Graham, Greenlee and Cochise counties into the evening. “We’ve seen numerous strong storms with large hail,” O’Malley said.
The week’s storms included a suspected tornado in Heber-Overgaard, golf ball-size hail in north Phoenix, flooding that forced rescues on the Navajo Nation and near Sedona, and rockslides in Clifton.
Drivers heading into the high country should still watch for debris and damaged roads. Conditions are posted at az511.gov.
Sources: KTAR News, Arizona’s Family. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Zooey / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
