Every summer, Phoenicians look forward to the monsoon season. Per the National Weather Service, monsoon season in Phoenix is June 15 through September 30, however, most of the time the storms do not start until late July or early August. This year was no exception. The monsoon rains in August were insane. Some of the craziest storms that we have ever experienced. One such storm occurred during the evening of August 13th at around ten o'clock at night. Here is the storm report from the National Weather Service for this particular evening:
Storm Report for August 13-14, 2021
Impacts: Localized wind damage, widespread heavy rains, numerous instances of flash flooding and unfortunately loss of life.>Strong to severe thunderstorms moved through central and southwest Arizona during the late evening hours of August 13, 2021 and into the morning hours of August 14, 2021. An unusually humid airmass was in place, fueling the thunderstorms and allowing them to produce very heavy rainfall. Rain fell at the rate of 2-3” per hour with more intense, localized amounts of 6” per hour. This resulted in numerous instances of flash flooding.
Heavy rain moved through northern Maricopa county, with some of the higher rain amounts observed near Fountain Hills and Phoenix. At various times the rain caused Interstate 17 to close at four locations (Greenway Road, Thunderbird Road, Indian School Road, and at the Durango Curve). Following the initial heavy rain, several hours of light to moderate rain fell across the Phoenix area during the overnight hours. The Phoenix Rainfall Index for both days amounted to 0.77” and pushed the total for the monsoon to approximately 4.4”.
This storm created havoc for the entire Moon Valley area. Due to the massive amount of rainfall, our entire backyard flooded and our pool filled with mud. Several of our friends and neighbors had similar issues. We all spent the next day cleaning up the mess. Luckily, for us, our damage only pertained to our front and back yards. We heard reports from some of our friends that their houses flooded as well. Ugh!
The natural waterfall of mud and rain created during the storm
So, on Saturday morning, Josh and I began the clean-up operation at sunrise. As our pool had flooded like this once before (five or so years prior), we knew what needed to be done. We needed to drain the pool and get the mud out of it before it stained. Luckily, we had remembered to stop the pool pump from running during the storm. Hopefully, that eliminated any damage that would have occurred to the pool system and pipes. We also needed to spray off the patio as there was a thin layer of mud everywhere. It was such a mess!
So, after twelve hours, three trips to Home Depot, one trip to Ace Hardware, one trip to Harbor Freight, one new sub-pump, one new shop vacuum, and non-stop power spraying, our front and backyards were somewhat back to normal by Saturday evening. We just needed to refill the pool with water. It wasn't exactly the way we wanted to spend our Saturday, but we had to get it done and felt highly accomplished (and extremely exhausted).
The morning after
The clean-up operation began
Thick mud discovered at the bottom of the pool
More power spraying and mud
No more mud!
Front yard clean, too.
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