Storm, wildfire risk to surge with monsoon in parts of West
By
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Jul 27, 2021 9:37 PM EDT
Torrential rain led to severe flooding in the town of Pahrump on Monday, July 26.
As the North American monsoon continues over the southwestern United States this week, AccuWeather meteorologists say that shifting moisture may allow the concentration of drenching storms to ease up in New Mexico and Arizona. But storms, some with downpours, some with no rain, are forecast to ramp up in portions of northern Nevada, Northern California, Oregon and Idaho in the coming days.
Prior to Sunday night, with a couple of exceptions this summer, thunderstorms associated with the monsoon have largely been absent thus far. There have been a couple of incidents of spotty showers and thunderstorms.
During June 17-18, and more recently on July 13, showers and storms dotted Southern California. The storms on July 13, managed to bring 0.10 of an inch of rain to Downtown Los Angeles.
On Monday, showers over Southern California delivered 0.12 of an inch of rain to Los Angeles, which is the greatest amount of rain for a single calendar day since the middle of March. This pushed the monthly total rainfall for the city to 0.22 of an inch and resulted in the third wettest July on record.
Much of the rain that fell on Southern California on Monday had pivoted out to sea over the Pacific on Tuesday.
The spotty, little rain that has occurred thus far west of Arizona has done nothing to impact the exceptional drought ongoing in California, Nevada and Oregon.
Flames consume a home as the Dixie Fire tears through the Indian Falls community in Plumas County, Calif., Saturday, July 24, 2021. The fire destroyed multiple residences in the area. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
In California alone, 33% of the state was considered to be in exceptional drought, which is the worst category of drought level, according to data from the United States Drought Monitor. A drought emergency remained in effect for 50 of the 58 counties or 42% of the population in California. Major reservoirs have plummeted to historically low levels in many cases for this point in the season.
While the overall amount and extent of rain, the newest surge of moisture remains questionable from Southern California and southern Nevada, as well as point farther to the north, there is a concern amongst AccuWeather meteorologists of what mainly dry thunderstorms might bring.
"We often see thunderstorms with little rain and a significant amount of lightning strikes on the leading edge of monsoon moisture and this may be one of those situations," AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz said.
Locally gusty winds often accompany the thunderstorms in the West. The winds may not only kick up blinding dust in the vicinity, but can fan the sparks and flames produced by lightning strikes. With little or no rain to extinguish these flames, multiple wildfires can quickly spread through the dry brush that has been baking in the sun all summer long.
In Las Vegas on early Monday morning, over 13,000 were without power due to thunderstorms.
Any non-flooding rainfall without lightning would be welcomed.
A small number of the storms will manage to bring enough rain to wet the ground and result in a temporary soaking, while a smaller number still can bring so much rain as to lead to isolated flash flooding and debris flows.
"The pattern is pulling a significant amount of atmospheric moisture westward, so it is possible that some communities in Southern California and Nevada get thoroughly soaked with a risk of flash flooding as well," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brian Thomson said.
It is for these reasons that hikers are strongly urged to monitor the changing weather not only at their location, but in the distance as well. Lightning can extend outward a dozen miles or more in extreme cases. A downpour miles upstream can produce a torrent of water through canyons and dry stream beds with a mainly clear sky overhead.
During Monday, showers and thunderstorms managed to unload 0.46 of an inch of rain on Palm Springs, California.
Flash flood watches and warnings were issued across Southern California, southern Nevada and southern Utah on Monday morning. Within 30 minutes after 9 a.m., local time, 0.71 inches of rain was measured in Primm, Nevada, near the state border with California.
Flood waters submerged roads in Pahrump Nevada, a town about 60 miles east of Death Valley, on Monday, July 26. (Instagram/@odoa1)
As the deluge continued, areas like Pahrump, Nevada, about 60 miles east of Death Valley, saw flash flooding along Highway 160. An estimated .5 to 1 inch of rainfall reportedly fell around the area, with the highest observations pushing 2 inches, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert.
"These seem to be slow moving storms too, so they can dump a lot of rain in a quick time," Reppert said.
Photos and videos circled around social media, showing flooded areas in the Desert Southwest that had not only inundated roads, but had also swept away cars.
At the very least, most residents will notice an uptick in humidity levels during the first part of this week in the West.
"The westward push of monsoon moisture is moving along with the progression of a storm in the middle levels of the atmosphere," Benz explained.
This moisture will then be drawn northward around a large area of high pressure that remains anchored over the central Rockies and Plains this week.
"This circulation will tend to spread the thunderstorm risk into areas that have already been hammered by wildfires so far this summer in Northern California, northern Nevada, Oregon an Idaho on Wednesday," Benz said.
While some increase in moisture in the air may raise humidity levels slightly over the Northwest by midweek, it probably will not be enough to make a big difference in lowering the potential combustion of natural fuels in the region.
As of Monday morning, there were 63 large, non-contained wildfires burning in the United States, mostly in the West, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
In Northern California, the Dixie Fire, which is only 23% contained, had consumed 208,206 acres and destroyed at least 22 structures. The cause of the Dixie Fire was under investigation. In southern Oregon, the Bootleg Fire, which started from lightning strikes, was 53% contained, had burned 410,731 acres and destroyed 184 structures.
Farther southwest, rain from the monsoon has brought some drought relief in portions of New Mexico and Arizona, but at a price.
The combination of torrential downpours, that have repeated or lingered in some cases, on top of rugged and arid terrain has led to incidents of flash flooding.
On Friday, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona shared a video on Twitter of the department's aviation unit saving a stranded driver that drove through a flooded street and got stuck.
On Tuesday of this past week, drenching rainfall centered on Albuquerque, New Mexico, where 1 inch of rain poured down in just 15 minutes near Indian School and Tramway, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The rising waters of the Embudo Arroyo caused three people to be swept away in the flooding. Two bodies have been recovered, but one person was still missing. Nolan Bennett, a field engineer for Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control, told local station KOB, there was about 10 to 12 feet of water rushing down the arroyo.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Flagstaff, Arizona, told the Associated Press that more rain fell in some places in northern Arizona than in the whole monsoon season last year. At least one fatality was attributed to the heavy rain in the Flagstaff area after a woman was swept away in floodwaters. A fresh 1.80 inches of rain was measured in Flagstaff on Saturday, compared to an average of 2.61 inches for all of July. An additional 0.55 of an inch fell on Flagstaff on Sunday and brought the July 2021 total to 5.41 inches.
Phoenix has received nearly two times its normal rainfall for all of July, while Tucson, Arizona, has received 3.4 times the average for the month so far with a whopping 3.7 times the normal rainfall for El Paso, Texas, through July 25.
Other cities at an elevated risk for flash flooding this week include Yuma, Arizona; Las Vegas and Palm Springs.
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"There is likely to be a lull or decrease in the amount of drenching thunderstorm activity in portions of New Mexico and Arizona as this mid-level storm hovers off the coast of Southern California for a time this week," Benz added.
Still a lull does not mean that storms will be completely absent and there is still a risk of isolated incidents of flash flooding through this week over the interior Southwest.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
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News / Weather Forecasts
Storm, wildfire risk to surge with monsoon in parts of West
By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Jul 27, 2021 9:37 PM EDT
Torrential rain led to severe flooding in the town of Pahrump on Monday, July 26.
As the North American monsoon continues over the southwestern United States this week, AccuWeather meteorologists say that shifting moisture may allow the concentration of drenching storms to ease up in New Mexico and Arizona. But storms, some with downpours, some with no rain, are forecast to ramp up in portions of northern Nevada, Northern California, Oregon and Idaho in the coming days.
Prior to Sunday night, with a couple of exceptions this summer, thunderstorms associated with the monsoon have largely been absent thus far. There have been a couple of incidents of spotty showers and thunderstorms.
During June 17-18, and more recently on July 13, showers and storms dotted Southern California. The storms on July 13, managed to bring 0.10 of an inch of rain to Downtown Los Angeles.
On Monday, showers over Southern California delivered 0.12 of an inch of rain to Los Angeles, which is the greatest amount of rain for a single calendar day since the middle of March. This pushed the monthly total rainfall for the city to 0.22 of an inch and resulted in the third wettest July on record.
Much of the rain that fell on Southern California on Monday had pivoted out to sea over the Pacific on Tuesday.
The spotty, little rain that has occurred thus far west of Arizona has done nothing to impact the exceptional drought ongoing in California, Nevada and Oregon.
Flames consume a home as the Dixie Fire tears through the Indian Falls community in Plumas County, Calif., Saturday, July 24, 2021. The fire destroyed multiple residences in the area. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
In California alone, 33% of the state was considered to be in exceptional drought, which is the worst category of drought level, according to data from the United States Drought Monitor. A drought emergency remained in effect for 50 of the 58 counties or 42% of the population in California. Major reservoirs have plummeted to historically low levels in many cases for this point in the season.
While the overall amount and extent of rain, the newest surge of moisture remains questionable from Southern California and southern Nevada, as well as point farther to the north, there is a concern amongst AccuWeather meteorologists of what mainly dry thunderstorms might bring.
"We often see thunderstorms with little rain and a significant amount of lightning strikes on the leading edge of monsoon moisture and this may be one of those situations," AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz said.
Locally gusty winds often accompany the thunderstorms in the West. The winds may not only kick up blinding dust in the vicinity, but can fan the sparks and flames produced by lightning strikes. With little or no rain to extinguish these flames, multiple wildfires can quickly spread through the dry brush that has been baking in the sun all summer long.
In Las Vegas on early Monday morning, over 13,000 were without power due to thunderstorms.
Any non-flooding rainfall without lightning would be welcomed.
A small number of the storms will manage to bring enough rain to wet the ground and result in a temporary soaking, while a smaller number still can bring so much rain as to lead to isolated flash flooding and debris flows.
"The pattern is pulling a significant amount of atmospheric moisture westward, so it is possible that some communities in Southern California and Nevada get thoroughly soaked with a risk of flash flooding as well," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brian Thomson said.
It is for these reasons that hikers are strongly urged to monitor the changing weather not only at their location, but in the distance as well. Lightning can extend outward a dozen miles or more in extreme cases. A downpour miles upstream can produce a torrent of water through canyons and dry stream beds with a mainly clear sky overhead.
During Monday, showers and thunderstorms managed to unload 0.46 of an inch of rain on Palm Springs, California.
Flash flood watches and warnings were issued across Southern California, southern Nevada and southern Utah on Monday morning. Within 30 minutes after 9 a.m., local time, 0.71 inches of rain was measured in Primm, Nevada, near the state border with California.
Flood waters submerged roads in Pahrump Nevada, a town about 60 miles east of Death Valley, on Monday, July 26. (Instagram/@odoa1)
As the deluge continued, areas like Pahrump, Nevada, about 60 miles east of Death Valley, saw flash flooding along Highway 160. An estimated .5 to 1 inch of rainfall reportedly fell around the area, with the highest observations pushing 2 inches, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert.
"These seem to be slow moving storms too, so they can dump a lot of rain in a quick time," Reppert said.
Photos and videos circled around social media, showing flooded areas in the Desert Southwest that had not only inundated roads, but had also swept away cars.
At the very least, most residents will notice an uptick in humidity levels during the first part of this week in the West.
"The westward push of monsoon moisture is moving along with the progression of a storm in the middle levels of the atmosphere," Benz explained.
This moisture will then be drawn northward around a large area of high pressure that remains anchored over the central Rockies and Plains this week.
"This circulation will tend to spread the thunderstorm risk into areas that have already been hammered by wildfires so far this summer in Northern California, northern Nevada, Oregon an Idaho on Wednesday," Benz said.
While some increase in moisture in the air may raise humidity levels slightly over the Northwest by midweek, it probably will not be enough to make a big difference in lowering the potential combustion of natural fuels in the region.
As of Monday morning, there were 63 large, non-contained wildfires burning in the United States, mostly in the West, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
In Northern California, the Dixie Fire, which is only 23% contained, had consumed 208,206 acres and destroyed at least 22 structures. The cause of the Dixie Fire was under investigation. In southern Oregon, the Bootleg Fire, which started from lightning strikes, was 53% contained, had burned 410,731 acres and destroyed 184 structures.
Farther southwest, rain from the monsoon has brought some drought relief in portions of New Mexico and Arizona, but at a price.
The combination of torrential downpours, that have repeated or lingered in some cases, on top of rugged and arid terrain has led to incidents of flash flooding.
On Friday, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona shared a video on Twitter of the department's aviation unit saving a stranded driver that drove through a flooded street and got stuck.
On Tuesday of this past week, drenching rainfall centered on Albuquerque, New Mexico, where 1 inch of rain poured down in just 15 minutes near Indian School and Tramway, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The rising waters of the Embudo Arroyo caused three people to be swept away in the flooding. Two bodies have been recovered, but one person was still missing. Nolan Bennett, a field engineer for Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control, told local station KOB, there was about 10 to 12 feet of water rushing down the arroyo.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Flagstaff, Arizona, told the Associated Press that more rain fell in some places in northern Arizona than in the whole monsoon season last year. At least one fatality was attributed to the heavy rain in the Flagstaff area after a woman was swept away in floodwaters. A fresh 1.80 inches of rain was measured in Flagstaff on Saturday, compared to an average of 2.61 inches for all of July. An additional 0.55 of an inch fell on Flagstaff on Sunday and brought the July 2021 total to 5.41 inches.
Phoenix has received nearly two times its normal rainfall for all of July, while Tucson, Arizona, has received 3.4 times the average for the month so far with a whopping 3.7 times the normal rainfall for El Paso, Texas, through July 25.
Other cities at an elevated risk for flash flooding this week include Yuma, Arizona; Las Vegas and Palm Springs.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
"There is likely to be a lull or decrease in the amount of drenching thunderstorm activity in portions of New Mexico and Arizona as this mid-level storm hovers off the coast of Southern California for a time this week," Benz added.
Still a lull does not mean that storms will be completely absent and there is still a risk of isolated incidents of flash flooding through this week over the interior Southwest.
Related:
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo