A ‘WELCOME BREAK’
Rain brings relief from hot temperatures to Phoenix area
Scattered showers and thunderstorms made their way across the Phoenix area on Wednesday and were expected to shift later into the northern areas of Arizona, according to the National Weather Service.
Marvin Percha, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, said the rainfall is the area's first measurable precipitation since April 27.
About .17 inch of rain was recorded by about 2 p.m. Wednesday at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport — the second most on record, the weather service tweeted. The wettest June 23 was 0.84 inch in 1965.
A new low temperature for the day of 78 degrees also was set Wednesday at the airport, the weather service tweeted.
Rain to have no impact on drought
Light showers and wind gusts up to 45 mph swept through most parts of Maricopa County on Tuesday night, bringing a temperature dip to 87 degrees. The rain that arrived Tuesday night was the first drops of precipitation in the Valley in June.
While these showers are leaving "little to no impact" on current drought conditions, the rainfall potentially is helping to slow the spread of wildfires across the state and is bringing moisture back into the fuels that are driving the fires.
"In terms of more shorter term (impacts), with the high humidities it does give some help to firefighters who are out on the current fires," Percha said. "With the cooler temperatures and higher humidities, it does give them a little bit of temporary help."
Prior to the rain, temperatures last week soared as high as 118 degrees in Phoenix.
Percha said the rainfall provided a "welcome break" to the previous weather with temperatures falling to
as low as 79 degrees at about noon Wednesday. He said Tuesday's high temperature was 95 degrees at midnight.
Since there has not been rain in a while, Percha said it is important for drivers to be careful and slow down because roads may be slick with precipitation.
Storms to head north by afternoon
The National Weather Service tweeted that the rain activity pushed out of the Phoenix area and up into the northern part of the state at about 4 p.m, with strong thunderstorms developing across parts of southeast California and southwest Arizona.
According to the National Weather Service in Flagstaff, some parts of northern Arizona, including Flagstaff, Sedona and Williams, have a greater than 50% chance of precipitation with the potential for thunderstorm activity across western portions of Coconino and Yavapai counties on Wednesday afternoon.
In the south-central part of the state, including Maricopa County, the chance of thunderstorms, winds and lightning is low and isolated, according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix. There is also a low and isolated chance for dust storms.
These conditions can potentially negatively impact wildfires, however, as additional lightning strikes and gusty outflow winds can potentially bring the start of a new fire, making it harder for crews to contain.
There is a less than 10% chance for scattered showers into Thursday, either late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, Percha said.
Forecasts for the Phoenix area will return to normal as temperatures warm back up Thursday and Friday. Into the weekend, temperatures will reach up to 110 degrees, Percha said.
Next week, there is another chance for rainfall, but there is uncertainty with those predictions, Percha said. As of Wednesday afternoon, projections for rainfall next week are between 10% and 30%, he said.