Half an inch of rain in a few minutes Saturday

Cloud-to-ground lightning, loud thunder, sheets of rain and strong gusts of wind – it all happened in just a few minutes on Saturday evening when Parker, AZ received over half an inch of rainfall.

The Arizona Monsoon isn’t until summer, but this storm had all the characteristics desert people are used to seeing during the annual stormy season, including flowing washes, streets turned to rivers and flags ripped to shreds.

The National Weather Service station in the town of Parker recorded 56 100ths of an inch, or 0.56″ (over half an inch) of rainfall, an uncommon anomaly in a relatively dry spring.

I had just ridden 9.6 miles when the storm hit.