Maysoon? Arizonans dealing with monsoon-like storms

PHOENIX - Arizonans are used to rain and clouds during the summer, but not so much during the spring, and the recent rounds of 'maysoon' weather is having an impact on not just Phoenix area residents, but people in other parts of the state as well.

In Mesa, Clarence Van Dyke got to experience the power these ‘maysoon’ storms are packing.

"You do expect it in June, but not in May," said Van Dyke.

Van Dyke and his wife were watching television on the afternoon of May 18 when their house started to shake.

"Just a little bit [at first], then a big shake, and then, a ka-bam!" Van Dyke recounted.

'Maysoon' storms leave mark on Mesa home

Monsoon has not started, but in recent days, the Phoenix area has been experiencing rounds of unseasonable weather that some are calling the 'maysoon.' The storms have done some damage to homes in the Valley. FOX 10's Irene Snyder reports.

Van Dyke later discovered that his carport's roof collapsed, and many of his lawn decorations were damaged.

"When I looked at my security camera, I saw it was the wind that actually did that," said Van Dyke. "It made such a crash that the whole house shook, and we were pretty scared at that point."

Meterologists with the National Weather Service say the unseasonable weather is due to some low pressure systems.

"A weird weather pattern where we have just a little low-pressure system to our south that's helped to draw in some moisture," said Paul Iniguez. "That's giving us all these clouds, thunderstorms developing over the mountains, giving us some big pushes of wind in the afternoon, evening in the Phoenix area."

While Van Dyke may have a lot of work ahead of him, he says he has a great community that's helping him clean up the damage.

"It's wonderful," said Van Dyke. "We help everybody every day. It's perfect."

According to NWS' Flagstaff office, the area had over 0.57 inches of rain on May 19, which broke a previous record of 0.5 inches that was set in 1950.

Cottonwood residents deal with flooding

Storm brought flooding to parts of Arizona

On May 19, a new round of storm that some are calling the 'maysoon' brought flash flooding and some damages to some communities in Arizona. FOX 10's Stephanie Bennett spoke with some residents in Cottonwood and Verde Village.

Effects from the storm were felt outside of Phoenix.

North of Phoenix, afternoon thunderstorms brought flash flooding, ripping through neighborhoods in Cottonwood and Verde Village.

"It was raining, hailing, and then 20 minutes, it was just flooded," said Yadira Mendez. "I kind of panicked, and grabbed a few things that I had in the backyard and put it in a safe place."

Mendez was supposed to have a wedding at a yard in three weeks. That yard is now damaged.

In Cottonwood, two normally dry washes collided in a home's front yard, and head to the Verde River. Those washes were overflowing on May 19.

"The river was up in our yard, going around the trees, turned our driveway into some class two rapids," said Ken Parker.

The 'May-soon' before the monsoon

The monsoon hasn't officially started, but this week, parts of the state have seen some monsoon-like weather after thunderstorms triggered flooding in the high country.

Parker said it's not the first time he had to deal with flooding, but the storm on May 19 was one of the worst storms he has ever seen.

"About 2:00 p.m., it started coming down," Parker said. "We have got a couple skylights in the house, and the hail started making it to where we couldn’t hear each other, so we had to come outside and see what was going on."

The storm also unearthed various things.

"I came out, there were police. They had yellow tape everywhere. They said ‘oh, we found bones,’ and I said ‘what kind of bones,’ and they said ‘well, they’re human bones,’ and I said 'well, l what do you mean?" Amy Wagner recounted.

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