It was one of the strongest storms we have seen in the last few years. Two areas in PHX metro got warned on for tornado, Glendale/Peoria and North Scottsdale. Both cases were low hanging rotating mesos with powerflashes and damage to rooftiles, trees, landscaping and small structures on the ground (it also decapitated somebody's Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer lawn ornament LOL). Golfball and marble sized hail rained down covering multiple areas all over Phoenix.
John Moore, a chaser who lives in Paradise Valley, once said to me years ago that winter storms in Maricopa County, AZ had the potential even moreso to generate supercell structure than thunderstorms of the summer monsoon. At the time I found that to be a surprising remark (?) but as time went on I realized that he was right about that.
Although the summer monsoon make no mistake can deliver quite the wicked blow, with intense lightning, high winds (100mph can even be dealt out in some desert areas - hundreds of powerpoles lost per summer), damaging microbursts, meso structure and torrential downpours, I understand that there is a piece of the puzzle usually missing during the summer months in Arizona that is required for rotation - the presence of a summer jet to help set things spinning. I'm kind of thankful for that actually, because most of my chasing is done 6pm-2am nightly during monsoon, so it's comforting to me that I don't have to deal with funnels dropping in the dark (that can be a disquieting feeling in the Plains). However, Arizona is not exempt from tornadoes, we can get a few each year.
In any event, things came together yesterday for quite a punch in Arizona, not to mention heavy snow pack in the high country, just 1 1/2 hrs up the road. More is expected, two more storms on deck from what I understand.
