Monsoon Floods

Arizona summers are usually hot, but they are most certainly not dry. The months of July, August, and September are the southern part of the state's wettest months, with warm moist tropical moisture being funneled from both gulfs of Mexico and California to the southeast and southwest.

As a result, this moisture surge is known as the summer monsoon, where on a typical day, mornings start out with clear cool skies only to give way to ominous storm clouds in the afternoon. Many storms are capable of producing several inches of rain in one hour, and due to the immense geographical altitude variation between the 10,000 foot mountain tops to the arid desert valley floors, dangerous flooding happens nearly everywhere.

Near where I live, this road is almost always closed during the storms. Even "Stupid Motorist Laws" have been enacted penalizing people for attempting to cross the washes and need to be rescued by emergency crews.

While it's a beautiful scene to watch empty creeks turn into raging rivers for a brief period, it's still best to remember when you drive up to one to "Turn around, Don't drown."