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The drenching monsoon rain that brought widespread flooding to the Phoenix area …
Arizona monsoon rain a '1-in-100' year storm
Doyle Rice, USA TODAY More than 2 inches of rain pounded west and central Phoenix in about an hour, flooding major roads and highways. Several drivers needed to be rescued from flooded cars, but no injuries were reported.
A 1-in-100 year rainstorm means that amount of rainfall in such a short time has a 1% chance of happening in any given year in a given location.
Last weekend, a 1-in-1,000 year storm brought destructive flooding to the small Maryland town of Ellicott City, killing two people.
Parts of the Phoenix area will again be vulnerable to heavy rain Wednesday evening, with the potential of 1-2 inches in some spots, the weather service predicted.
Nearly the entire state of Arizona, along with portions of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico were under a flood watch for later Wednesday.
Monsoon storms are frequent this time of year in the Desert Southwest. July and August are typically Phoenix's rainiest months.
Though the rain itself is popularly called a "monsoon," the term scientifically means a seasonal shift in wind direction. It's derived from the Arabic mausim, meaning "season," according to the American Meteorological Society.
A Southwest monsoon is not nearly as intense as a Asian monsoon, which often brings catastrophic flooding to India and other nations.
Across the country, Miami also saw an unusually stormy Tuesday. Streets were flooded due to heavy rain and flights at the city's airport were halted due to lightning, the Miami Herald reported. Miami picked up 3.79 inches of rain, a record for Aug. 2, the weather service said.
Overall, Miami sees plenty of rain in the summer. August is typically the city's 3rd-rainiest month, with almost 9 inches of rain on average.
Contributing: Sydney Greene, The (Arizona) Republic
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