Areas of the Valley saw lots of rainfall, but some saw none
MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - Some spots in the Valley saw more than two inches of rain on Sunday and into Monday morning – others were not nearly as lucky.
Parts of the East Valley were the driest spots. Other areas got so much rain, they were able to go for a swim.
This is an Arizona summer.
What they're saying:
When the Settlage family spotted the filled retention ponds on Monday morning, they got their swimsuits on.
"Well, I’ve been trying to go for walks in the morning before it gets too hot, but I told the kids, ‘Let’s go take a walk to the park over there,’ and so we got about as far as two houses, and they took off their shoes and started running in the water," Dianne Settlage said.
It was a day of laughter and fun.
According to the The Flood Control District of Maricopa County gauges, a Sun City neighborhood was the wettest spot during the rare rainfall. The Crossriver neighborhood in Sun City got 2.36 inches of rain.
"It was extremely variable across the metro," Mark O’Malley of the National Weather Service (NWS) in Phoenix said.
O’Malley says seeing rain all depended on where you lived.
"It is quite rare for the beginning of June to have this happen, but it’s not unprecedented," O’Malley said.
In Sun City, dry river beds were flowing.
Just down the street from the Settlage family was Justin Fouche's family.
"It’s nice. The water is probably about the same temperature as it is outside right now. 80 degrees," he said.
Other kids were running around with their dogs.
"Oh, this is awesome. It doesn’t happen very often, so you have to enjoy it while it’s here," Fouche said.
If the Sun City neighborhood was the wettest spot, what about the driest?
"I don’t think we’ve seen rain for months," said Gilbert resident Sheena Jandel.
She lives near the Crossroads District Park rain gauge in Gilbert. She says she got some rain, but the gauge was the only one in the Valley that didn’t receive any rain.
So, if you got some good rain totals, enjoy it.
What's next:
If you missed out on getting a lot of rain, NWS says to be patient because it will likely be many more weeks before the monsoon settles in.