All-time single-day rainfall swamps Phoenix

The remnants of Hurricane Norbert swamped the Phoenix area of Arizona this past Monday with a record 3.29 inches of rain, easily surpassing the previous single-day precipitation mark of 2.91 inches in 1939.

Other stations in the region received staggering amounts of rain on Sept. 8. Chandler measured a whopping 5.63 inches. Scottsdale reported 5.14 inches and Mesa had 4.41 inches, more rain than these cities usually gauge during an entire monsoon summer season.

It's not unusual for Phoenix and the surrounding areas of Arizona to receive heavy monsoon summer showers. But, during the past decade of overall drought, the individual monsoon seasons have been extremely 'erratic.' Phoenix has seen huge rainfalls one year and virtually no precipitation the very next summer, another prime example of our prolonged global cycle of WIDE WEATHER 'EXTREMES.'

For example, in 2008, Phoenix measured 5.73 inches of rain during that particular soggy summer. But, the very next monsoon season in 2009, only saw a paltry .97 inches of moisture. The summer of 2011 had an all-time record seven duststorms, but very little in total rainfall.

Last Monday, according to our sons Brent and Brian, who live in the Phoenix/Scottsdale areas, most of the freeways became "totally submerged" by the torrents of rain. The pumping stations in Phoenix couldn't keep up with the unprecedented downpours. More than 2 inches of precipitation fell in less than three hours during the Monday morning commute. Large sections of both Interstates 10 and 17 were closed. Many cars, trucks and SUVs sat in water up to their hoods.

In Tempe, Ariz., the roof of a grocery store collapsed on Monday. Fortunately, no one was injured despite the extensive amounts of property damage.

In Tucson, to the south of Phoenix, nearly 2 inches of rain fell in less than three hours turning the area's normally dry washes into raging torrents.

A woman was found dead after her car was swept away by two waves of water nearly 15 feet deep. The car was trapped against a bridge, preventing the woman from exiting the vehicle. Rescuers saved a man from drowning in the area when he was likewise trapped by high waters that swamped his car. An official said that "warnings of flash floods have been issued each summer monsoon season throughout the Desert Southwest."

Part of Nevada likewise saw tremendous downpours. Streets become rivers in Las Vegas. There was more than 4 inches of rain from the remnants of Norbert measured in the sparsely populated community of Moapa. The Virgin River was pushed to very near the 11-foot flood stage level.

Even the drought-parched desert regions of Southern California saw record monsoon rains on Monday. During the morning commute near Palm Springs, more than 40 calls were received from stranded drivers, a very 'rare' occurrence indeed in this normally arid parts of the Golden State.

Hundreds of utility workers were forced to disconnect power to thousands of electric transformers in parts of Arizona, southeastern California and southern Nevada on Monday. Sandbags were provided to save hundreds of flood-threatened homes in the Southwest. Many temporary shelters were opened.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer declared "a state of emergency" on Monday, telling state workers "to stay home and avoid the widespread lowland flooding."

Last Monday weatherwise was a day to be remembered for generations to come in the U.S. Desert Southwest. Believe it!

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

This past week saw wide temperature 'extremes' across the region. On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 7, we observed our 30th 'Sholeh Day' of this hot summer of 2014. Just 4 days later, on Thursday, Sept. 11, the 13th anniversary of 9/11, we shivered through our first morning of the season with low readings in the mid to upper 30s. Some outlying areas reported light frosts with temperatures near the freezing mark. I'm glad that we had our fireplace fixed on Sept. 8.

Near-term weatherwise, thanks to a strong ridge of high pressure camped over the Inland Northwest, we should see warmer and drier than normal conditions with morning lows near 50 degrees and afternoon highs in the lower 80s, not bad at all for mid September.

I don't see any measurable precipitation arriving until at least the end of this week across North Idaho, but the Seattle area should have some showers by Thursday or Friday as a weather system pushes in from the North Pacific.

Longer-term, from the official start of the fall season on Sept. 22 to the end of a rather soggy 2014, we should see a pattern of 'sun and showers' develop much like we observed during this past spring season. We are likely to once again surpass 30 inches of precipitation this year by Dec. 31 in Coeur d'Alene. Our 119-year normal rainfall since 1895 has been 26.77 inches. The Spokane area, by comparison, where they've missed many of our recent strong thunderstorms, will be lucky to reach 15 or 16 inches of precipitation this year, a bit below normal.

As I said last week, the type of winter weather that we'll see in 2014-15 locally in the Inland Empire will depend at least partially upon what happens in the next several months to the current rather 'weak' El Nino in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean. If El Nino strengthens, we will likely see less snowfall than usual and milder temperatures overall. But, if it falls apart, all bets are off.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email [email protected]