Wind: Westerly winds of 5-15 mph; storm outflow winds possible in the afternoon or evening
Saturday
Stagnation: Morning stagnation
Wind: Westerly winds of 10-15 mph; storm outflow winds possible in the afternoon or evening
Sunday
Stagnation: Morning stagnation
Wind: Westerly winds of 5-15 mph; storm outflow winds possible in the afternoon or evening
Discussion
A classic wave of monsoonal thunderstorm/rain activity swept through the Valley yesterday, this time from the northeast. A line of gusty winds led the way, resulting in gusts of 68 mph at Sky Harbor. Dust was also kicked up, with a handful of PM10 monitors seeing decent spikes in dust levels. Rain quickly followed though, knocking down dust (rain was mostly in the East Valley). Most monitors remained in the Good AQI category for PM10.
Looking ahead, we will have the potential for a repeat wave out of the northeast this evening/night. A low-pressure disturbance from the east will provide the needed atmospheric assistance for this. Details are hard difficult to pin down, as always, but brief blowing dust may be possible again.
After today, the monsoon does finally look to calm down a bit, at least for the Valley. Instead, we'll have to contend with the heat. Temperatures above 110°F look likely, and the National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Heat Watch for Thursday-Monday.
PM10 will return to being mostly locally driven, though we can't rule out outflow winds from distant thunderstorms moving into the Valley in the evenings. Recent rain should help to limit PM10 levels, though.
Overall, the dust risk will be Low each day for now.
Check back again tomorrow morning for the next update!
