Flash Flood — La Paz, Arizona

2022-08-12 to 2022-08-13 · near Salome, La Paz, Arizona

Event narrative

Video images from social media showed raging flood waters occurring near Salome Highway just east of US-60. Timing estimated from radar. In addition, the Flood Control District of Maricopa County Gauge located along Centennial Wash in Wenden showed water levels rising above alarm stage at around 1950 MST, peaking at 3.37 feet (1323 cfs) at around 2034 MST and not going below alarm stage until around 2330 MST. The impacted areas from Centennial Wash include Salome Road, which is located about 4.8 miles downstream of the gauge location in Wenden. No damages or injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

In a classical monsoonal regime, with deep-layered east to southeast flow, high instability (MLCAPE in excess of 1000-1500 J/KG) along with abundant moisture (PWAT 1.8+ inches) resulted in an environment favorable for thunderstorms. An upper-level disturbance moving across Arizona, aided in increasing the areal coverage as well as enhancing the thunderstorm activity.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.7807, -113.6268)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1053717. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.