The metro Tucson area is under a flash flood watch beginning this afternoon, the weather service says.
A more active monsoon pattern increases the chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms in the area to between 50% to 70%, the National Weather Service in Tucson said Monday morning.
See what today's weather forecast looks like in Tucson.
The flash flood watch is in effect from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. In Southern Arizona it stretches from Tucson across the west desert between Oracle and Nogales, the forecast shows.
Thunderstorms will be capable of producing strong winds and heavy rainfall that could cause flash flooding.
Photos: Star photographers pick their favorite monsoon photos
Monsoon lightning, 2021
Updated
A bolt of lightning illuminates a column of rain drenching mid-town, part of a powerful monsoon cell that dropped rain, winds and hail over parts of Tucson, Ariz., July 20, 2021.
Monsoon, 2023
Updated
A rainbow arcs over the eastern sky behind a stand of saguaros along north Campbell Avenue, part of the scattered monsoon storm that rumbled over Tucson, Ariz., August 8, 2023.
Monsoon, 2022
Updated
The setting sun lights up the patchy monsoon clouds overhead as Omar Rojas Jr. works on pitching out of the stretch with his dad, Omar Sr., on the diamond at David G. Herrera and Ramon Quiroz Park, Tucson, Ariz., July 21, 2022. The two Omars were working out while daughter/sister Julissa practiced nearby with her softball team. Monsoon 2022 may finally bring the rain, with precipitation forecast this weekend and throughout the coming week.
Monsoon, 2023
Updated
Aurora Apodaca, left, lets out a laugh as she plays in the aftermath of a monsoon storm with Oscar Stump on the west side of Tucson in 2023.
Tucson weather, 2025
Updated
Kids take a ride on playground equipment at Joaquin Murrieta Park in Tucson, Ariz. under clouds that moved in early in the evening on June 30, 2025.
Monsoon, 2014
Updated
A woman watches the water flow down the Santa Cruz River from the Congress Street bridge on September 08, 2014. Tucson Police Department officers taped off a portion of the pedestrian/bike path along the Santa Cruz River that leads underneath Congress Street. A monsoon storm that dropped a record amount of rain on Monday. The closing of the path was a precaution due to the risk of the rising water.
Rainy day in Tucson, 2023
Updated
Scott Saas listens to music while rain showers continue throughout Southern Arizona, E. University Blvd, Dec. 1, 2023. Tucson is predicted to get anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of rain Friday.
Monsoon clouds, 2025
Updated
The "Balancing Act” sculpture poses underneath the dark cloudy skies as rain showers pass through Southern Arizona, 4502 North First Avenue, Tucson, Ariz., July 2, 2025.
Monsoon, 2025
Updated
A truck drives through flooded streets as heavy rain showers hit the city of Tucson, West Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, Ariz., July 3, 2025.
Blowing dust could occur through central and eastern Pima and Pinal counties. A blowing dust advisory has been issued for metro Tucson, western Pima County, the Tohono O'odham Nation, Santa Cruz County and portions of Southeast Pinal County. It is in effect from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
It is expected to get drier and hotter later this week, the forecast says.
Monday's high temperature is expected to be 99 degrees.
PHOTOS: Attracting the ladies, and other monsoon critters action
It isn't just humans who love it when the monsoon rains enliven the desert, perking everything up.
Critters come out to play, bigtime.
"Summer rains trigger a second breeding season for many animals, from insects to the birds and mammals that feed on the insects," the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson notes on its website, adding:.
Many butterflies emerge or arrive with the rains.
Giant palo verde beetles emerge to mate and lay eggs.
Spadefoot toads and Sonoran green toads "begin their short and frenzied reproductive cycles in the shallow rain puddles."
Nectar-feeding bats and their new young begin to move south, following the blooms of agaves.
And it gets buggy out there.
"Look for swirling swarms of winged leaf-cutter and harvester ants the morning after heavy rain; these are new queens and males which will mate and establish new colonies."
Here's a photo gallery of some of Southern Arizona's monsoon critters of the Sonoran Desert.
A male Couch's spadefoot toad puffs up making a mating call as the Alamo Wash flows for a few hours after a monsoon storm in July 2020.
