Flood — Maricopa, Arizona

2023-04-01 to 2023-04-09 · near Gomez Arpt, Maricopa, Arizona

Event narrative

Two men paddle boarding down the Salt River were caught in an undercurrent near 19th Avenue and Broadway on the 9th. They became stuck in the undercurrent around 1000MST and began yelling for help before disappearing under the water. The bodies of the two men were recovered about a week later on the 15th and 16th. Flow in the Salt River was unusually high at the time due to continued upstream releases from Granite Reef Dam. Start time based on continued releases from Granite Reef Dam.

Wider weather episode

Snowmelt runoff from the anomalous amounts of snow over the Arizona high terrain led to continued elevated flows in the Salt and Verde River watersheds. Dam releases being conducted in these watersheds to deal with the abnormal runoff led to continued downstream impacts along the Salt and Gila Rivers, which initially began in March. Continued releases from Granite Reef Dam allowed for elevated flows to persist in the normally dry Salt River with multiple unbridged river crossings remaining closed due to flooding. The heightened flows in the Salt River led to the fatalities of two men who were caught in an undercurrent while paddle boarding down the river. Releases from Granite Reef Dam were significantly reduced by the end of April as runoff into the watersheds decreased. Flow in the Salt and Gila Rivers continued to travel downstream to Painted Rock Dam. Releases from this dam led to elevated flows traveling down the Gila River into Yuma County, leading to numerous additional closures of unbridged river crossings. Elevated flows in the Salt and Gila Rivers allowed for impacts to persist into the month of May.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.4100, -112.1024)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1095873. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.