WeatherFanatics: Odile to Deliver Flooding Rain in Arizona, Nevada This Week

Monday, September 15, 2014

Odile to Deliver Flooding Rain in Arizona, Nevada This Week

By Brian Lada, Meteorologist

September 15,2014; 9:22PM,EDT

Tropical moisture from the approaching Odile will deliver another round of heavy rain and flooding downpours to the interior Southwest by the middle of this week.
This is coming just one week after moisture from Hurricane Norbert drenched the region, creating historic flooding in parts of the region.
Odile will weaken significantly before reaching the Southwest, likely not even being a tropical depression when reaching the region.
AccuWeather experts Evan Myers and Ken Clark discuss the impacts from Odile in the video below.
The moisture associated with the system will still be enough though to spread showers and flooding thunderstorms across the interior Southwest from Wednesday through Friday.
Cities that could be impacted by the heavy, flooding thunderstorms include Phoenix, Flagstaff, Tucson and Yuma, Arizona; Las Vegas; and eventually Salt Lake City.

Flash flooding should be anticipated with thunderstorms that develop as the abundance of tropical moisture allows storms to dump 1 to 2 inches of rain in under an hour.
Mudslides, washouts and dust storms may also occur in areas affected by the worst of the storms.
"Some of the stream beds and drainage basins are still clogged with silt and debris from the flows caused by the early September floods," said Accuweather.com Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"Because of this, some desert locations will be very vulnerable to another round of heavy rain and runoff."
A few showers and thunderstorms may even make their way into coastal areas of Southern California, including Los Angeles and San Diego, but the worst of the flooding is expected to stay over the desert areas.
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Although the rain will help to lessen the severity of the ongoing drought gripping the West, it will also raise concerns for those still cleaning up from last week's rainfall.
"Portions of I-15 in Nevada and southern Utah were heavily damaged by erosion and clogged with debris during the flash flooding during early September," said Sosnowski.
Crews still cleaning up and trying to repair the roads damaged from the significant flooding could face setbacks as rain may wash away or damage even more of the roadways.
Truckers and travelers driving through this part of the country may encounter detours to navigate around the washed-out roads.

The threat of flash flooding across the Southwest will decrease heading into the weekend as the moisture that is leftover from Odile shifts over the Plains.
A shower or thunderstorm in the higher elevations cannot be ruled out over the weekend due to some moisture lingering around.

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