We’ve witnessed significant flooding over parts of the Desert Southwest and specifically the Phoenix area in recent days. This flash flooding caused by 2 inch per hour rainfall forced water rescues and school, business and road closures yesterday.

This pattern continues tonight, tomorrow and Friday as moisture continues to wrap around a strong Colorado high. As the arid desert land heats fast and furious through the morning, incoming moisture from Mexico gets lifted high above the hot desert in the cooler upper level environment triggering the development of towering thunderstorms.

These often vigorous cells are fairly isolated and often surrounded by hot sunshine but as we’ve already seen just yesterday, they can dump a lot of rain in a very short time frame. Flash flooding often occurs in urbanised Phoenix due to poor drainage and the vast amount of non absorbent concrete and asphalt.

GFS surface

This was the scene from Phoenix yesterday.

Some video.

See today’s video.

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