Remnants of Hurricane “Norbert” produced record breaking rainfall in U.S. Southwest

Record breaking rainfall produced by the remnants of former Hurricane "Norbert" drenched much of the U.S. Southwest on September 8, 2014. Flash flooding in southern Arizona resulted in deaths of two people. Massive rainfall and flash flooding was also seen in parts of Nevada and southern California.

Phoenix, Arizona saw 84 mm (3.3 inches) of rainfall in 24 hours, breaking the previous high of 74 mm (2.91 inches), set in 1933. According to WMO, this amount of rainfall in Arizona is more than the combined total normally seen in the 3 months of July, August, and September.

The flash floods caused havoc on the state’s road network, in particular around the Phoenix area, where dozens of cars were trapped on Interstates 10 and 17, FloodList reports. 

Later on Monday, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton declared a state of emergency in the city. Interstate 15 in north west Arizona was also affected by the flooding.

In Nevada, the brunt of the storm hit Moapa, a town of about 1 000 people in a sparsely populated rural area some 70 km (50 miles) northeast of Las Vegas.

Their weather stations measured 118 mm (4.67 inches) of rain within two hours, pushing the Muddy and Virgin rivers to near-flood stage.

In Southern California, some people were trapped in vehicles and had to be rescued by emergency teams.

Interstate 215, Highway 74 and 243 were worst affected and at one point as many as 70 vehicles were trapped by flash floods.

NOAA's GOES-West imagery from September 6 through September 9 shows former Tropical Storm "Norbert" spinning down in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project

Featured image credit: AZCentral