Second storm hits area, causes some damage
Another thunderstorm hit the area Monday night, triggering a severe weather alert. A dust wall worked its way west from Tacna, through the Foothills into Yuma.
Battalion Chief David Rodriguez of the Wellton Fire Department said about 50 percent of the town lost power and numerous trees and power poles had been knocked down. The Wellton-Mohawk power company worked on restoring power.
Rural/Metro Fire Department reported Monday night that a transformer blew out at 13516 S. Avenue F.
Early Monday morning, a thunderstorm featuring light rains, but high wind gusts hit Yuma County, triggering power outages, blowing dust and causing some slight damage.
According to Alfonso Zavala, a spokesperson for the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, the Dateland area lost power during the storm, so a volunteer reserve unit was activated to check on residents and to provide water.
The jail and main administration building on 1st Street in Yuma also lost power at about 2:30 a.m. Zavala said, and had to run on emergency generators for about four hours until electricity was finally restored.
The sheriff’s office did not receive any other reports of major damage anywhere else.
The Yuma Police Department did not receive any reports of severe damage either, according to Sgt. Lori Franklin.
Jill Hanks, a spokesperson for Arizona Public Service, said that at one point, more than 5,200 customers in Yuma — and 22,000 statewide — were left with no
power.
The loss of power in Yuma was due to a crossarm on a power pole breaking. The crossarm is the device mounted to a utility pole that holds up power lines or other electrical equipment.
“We will have to replace a pole,” Hanks said. “It means there must have been some pretty significant winds.”
Hanks said while repairs were being made throughout the morning, the last outage area — which affected 60 customers — was expected to have power restored by about 12:30 p.m. The outage was from 1st Street to 14th Street and Avenue A to Main Street and left some businesses without power to start the day.
The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) in some areas. State transportation officials also temporarily closed a section of Interstate 10 near Casa Grande due to low visibility.
Rains lasted about an hour-and-a-half in the Yuma area and dropped 0.23 inches of precipitation.
While it is expected to be mostly sunny, with a high near 103, Tuesday’s forecast does call for a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. There is also a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms that evening and areas of blowing dust before 11 p.m. The low should be around 86 degrees.
Wednesday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 101, and only a 10 percent chance showers and thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. The low is expected be around 86 degrees.
The rains could return in time for the weekend, with a 10 percent chance on both Friday and Saturday.
Friday is expected to be mostly sunny with a high near 107, a nighttime low of around 85 and showers possible at about 11 p.m. Saturday will be partly sunny, with a high near 106 and a low around 85.
Battalion Chief David Rodriguez, of the Wellton Volunteer Fire Department, said while there were some reports of minor damage, there was nothing notable.
Fire Marshal Kayla Holiman added that the Yuma Fire Department did not receive any reports of storm damage either, although firefighters did respond to calls about a smoldering transformer, downed power lines and false fire alarms.
Yuma Sun staff writer Mara Knaub contributed to this report. James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 5396854. Find him on Facebook at www. Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.