If one doubted that AZ receives a sizable monsoon season, this week has eliminated such doubts. It has rained nearly every day and some of the storms are downright powerful. Monsoon storms in AZ are filled with wild electricity, flooding down pours and house-shaking thunder.
Thursday night we experienced the most powerful storm I can remember in my four years living here. The next morning I was scheduled for a REALTOR tour in Central PHX, however, there was such devastation from the monsoon storm that ran all night that we had a modified tour and in the end, took a tour of the shocking damage all around.
FROM azcentral.com:
Severe storms rolled through the Valley on Thursday night, starting at around 8pm in the East Valley, and lasting through almost 2am! Downbursts within the storms, as well as straight-line winds, brought wind gusts from 69-85 mph that were reported from the east to the west Valley. National Weather Service radar recorded winds in excess of 100 mph just 1,500ft above the ground!
One report I read said this massive micro-burst on Thursday night was upwards of 50,000 feet tall. It was quite impressive and if you told me we were in the Midwest in the middle of a tornado I would have believed you!
One of my favorite neighborhoods in PHX is the Willo Historic District. It, unfortunately, was hit the hardest. It was choas there on Friday morning - downed power lines, homes destroyed, roofs missing, cars smashed, etc.. I took this picture of my absolute favorite home in Willo. I was so sad to see this historic home (that was fully remodeled) demolished by a 80 year-old-tree that once added to the presence of the home. Fortunately the owners were not injured even though they were home when it occurred.
Windows on high-rise buildings were popped out with curtains flapping out the windows. It was quite the site. Certainly a storm that will not be forgotten.
2 comments:
Wow! We loved the monsoon season in AZ. It was so amazing to see the wall of sand and dirt rolling into the area and the lightning was wild.
I have never witnessed so much destruction from a monsoon in the eight years we were there. Thanks for sharing the pictures. Sometimes mother nature humbles us.
What a storm! I'm glad everyone was OK. We've had micro bursts here many times. I still remember the tornado that whipped through SLC. That was a real surprise. There were many buildings destroyed but as I recall, the temple, and the Conference Center(which was still under construction) were not damaged.
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