July 3, 2013 / Modified jul 3, 2013 4:53 p.m.

Monsoon Causes Flooding in Flagstaff

Nearly 1 inch of rain falls in 15 minutes; more over 3-hour span, plus big hailstones.

As wildfires burn to the south and west, Flagstaff is drying out from a major monsoon storm that brought massive amounts of rain in a short time span.

"At Pulliam Airport in Flagstaff, the total was 1.76 inches," said Darren McCollum of the National Weather Service in Flagstaff. "Over half of that fell in a 15-minute span."

Flooding was reported on a number of roads, including the main railroad underpass on Milton Road.

That single storm dropped almost one-third of the precipitation Flagstaff has seen this year.

It also brought hail to the area.

"Hail up to the size of ping pong balls was reported by spotters," said McCollum. "I went home myself; this was after an hour or so of melting, and dug through the piles of hail. I found nickel and quarter size pieces still in that pile."

Weather reports call for continued monsoon rains until Monday, although no powerful storms are forecasted.

Video courtesy of Gillian Ferris of Arizona Public Radio

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