Flood — Maricopa, Arizona

2023-03-04 to 2023-03-31 · near Skyway Vlg, Maricopa, Arizona

Event narrative

Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies received a call around 1145 MST on the 18th of a reported drowning after an 81-year-old man fell out of his kayak and didn't resurface. The incident occurred near the Pebble Beach area along the Salt River. Other kayakers on the river pulled the man out and administered first aid but were not successful. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Approximately 20 minutes later, a family kayaking downstream on the Salt River near the Phon D Sutton Recreation Area had to be rescued after their kayak capsized. The family managed to stay afloat by holding onto some bushes and trees. All of the family members were safely rescued via helicopter by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. Ongoing dam releases were resulting in strong currents in the river at the time of these incidents. Event timing is based on downstream Granite Reef Dam releases.

Wider weather episode

Anomalous snowfall across the high terrain of Arizona as well as lower elevation rainfall led to greater than normal runoff into the Salt and Verde watersheds. As a result of this, dam releases were conducted at multiple locations in these watersheds, leading to heightened flows in these rivers. Upstream releases led to additional releases from Granite Reef Dam, which initially began to cause impacts on the 4th when releases from the dam increased above 1,000 cfs. Granite Reef Dam releases continued to increase going through the month of March and at one point during the month was releasing nearly 40,000 cfs. Releases from this dam led to downstream flow in the normally dry Salt River, which runs through the Phoenix metro. The anomalous runoff into the Salt and Verde watersheds and the resultant dam releases led to numerous impacts along the Salt, Verde, and Gila Rivers, including multiple unbridged river crossings being flooded, multiple water rescues, and one recreational fatality. Flow in the Salt River continued downstream into the Gila River, causing more impacts along the way down to Painted Rock Dam. Releases continued through the remainder of the month and into April, resulting in prolonged impacts.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.5457, -111.5650)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1090054. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.