A semi-shrouded lightning bolt illuminates a shaft of rain in the north-central part of Tucson on Wednesday night. Rain, at times heavy, and lightning covered most of the valley during the early evening and into the night.

A rainy weekend is expected in Southern Arizona as the National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for Friday and Saturday.

Starting late Friday morning through Saturday night, all of southeastern Arizona should expect excessive rainfall coming from the south and moving north, the NWS said. The NWS also warned that the flash flood watch can also cause flooding of washes and roadways.

In Tucson, both Friday and Saturday have 80% to 90% chances of heavy rain and thunderstorms, the NWS said.

Showers will continue Sunday with a possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon, the NWS said. There is a 60% chance of precipitation.

A car zooms through the foot-deep water flooding the intersection of Glenn Street and Tucson Boulevard on Wednesday night. The storm dropped rain over much of the valley starting shortly before sunset and into the night.

In Wednesday’s storm, some areas in Pima County saw 1 inch of rain while others barely got any. The Marana Regional Airport received a total of 1.03 inches of rain, the NWS said. The downtown area near Congress Street and Stone Avenue received 0.18 of an inch of rain while the Tucson International Airport received 0.01 of an inch.

So far, the total amount of rain Tucson has received during the 2022 monsoon is 2.03 inches, the NWS said. Last year, Tucson saw 12.79 inches of rain during the monsoon.


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Jamie Donnelly covers breaking news for the Arizona Daily Star. Contact her via e-mail at jdonnelly@tucson.com