Power Outages Linger After Monsoon Storms Slam Phoenix Metro

PHOENIX, AZ — More than 10,000 utility customers across the Phoenix metro lost power Monday night as strong monsoon storms swept through the Valley, bringing damaging winds, blowing dust and heavy rain.

At the height of the outages around 10:50 p.m. Monday, about 10,800 customers were without electricity, according to utility outage maps.

By early Tuesday morning, service had been restored to the vast majority of customers. Arizona Public Service reported less than 100 customers remained without power, while Salt River Project listed roughly 400 customers still affected.

Monday's outages came as a powerful line of monsoon storms moved across the Valley.

A dust storm swept through central Phoenix Monday afternoon, producing wind gusts exceeding 50 mph, sharply reducing visibility and bringing lightning and heavy rain.

The National Weather Service issued a Dust Storm Warning that remained in effect until 7:45 p.m.

As the dust settled, widespread showers and thunderstorms moved across the Phoenix metro Monday evening. Some neighborhoods saw torrential rainfall, with one rain gauge in central Phoenix measuring 1.26 inches in just one hour.

The heavy rain prompted a Flash Flood Warning for parts of central Phoenix through 9:30 p.m.

While Tuesday is expected to bring only isolated storm chances, forecasters say monsoon activity is likely to ramp up again later this week.

A weather disturbance moving into Arizona could bring more widespread thunderstorms Thursday and Friday, increasing the potential for heavy rainfall and localized flooding across parts of central and eastern Arizona.

Temperatures are also expected to cool later in the week, with highs dropping below normal across much of the state.