A strong, wet Pacific upper level low pressure system spread copious amounts of moisture into south central Arizona on Saturday February 22nd; as a result widespread rain developed early in the morning and the moderate to heavy rain persisted for much of the day. The heaviest rainfall amounts occurred over higher terrain areas to the east of Phoenix; most of the rain gages in the area measured between 1.25 and 3 inches with the most significant rain occurring during the morning hours. The excessive rain resulted in a few episodes of areal flooding which included the Sycamore Creek and Tonto Creek basins. During the afternoon hours, local law enforcement reported multiple roads closed due to flooding in the Tonto Creek basin; the closures occurred to the northwest of Lake Roosevelt. An areal flood warning was issued for the basin due to elevated flow in the creek and the warning persisted for several days. In addition, during the evening hours a family of 5 drove into Sycamore Creek, which was flowing heavily, and became stranded necessitating a water rescue.

Flood in GILA, ARIZONA
From 22-FEB-20 13:00:00 to 26-FEB-20 09:15:00 (MST-7)
Location: GOVERNMENT HILL
Flood cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

A strong upper level low pressure system spread copious amounts of moisture into south-central Arizona on Saturday February 22nd; this lead to widespread moderate to heavy rain across the high terrain to the northeast of Phoenix. Significant amounts of rain fell in the Tonto Creek basin with gage reports in the area measuring as high as 3 inches during the event. This led to areal flooding in the basin which resulted in several low water crossings becoming inundated. At 1303MST local law enforcement reported a cross road at Tonto Creek closed due to flooding. Later in the afternoon, at about 1713MST, law enforcement reported that the Bar X crossing at Tonto Creek was closed due to the flooding. Both closures were reported by GCSO. In addition, the AHAPS stream gage called Tonto Creek at Roosevelt measured flow significantly above action stage on Saturday, and the elevated flow continued into the middle of the following week. An Areal Flood Warning was issued due to the elevated streamflow. Flow above action stage results in flooding of several low water crossings in the creek.

Flood in MARICOPA, ARIZONA
From 22-FEB-20 15:45:00 to 22-FEB-20 23:00:00 (MST-7)
Location: FT MCDOWELL
Flood cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Broadcast Media

A strong Pacific upper low spread copious amounts of moisture into south-central Arizona on Saturday February 22nd; this led to widespread moderate to heavy rain across higher terrain areas to the northeast of Phoenix. The excessive rain resulted in some areal flooding during the afternoon and evening hours, affecting the Sycamore Creek basin. According to local broadcast media, at roughly 2115MST a family of 5 drove their vehicle into Sycamore Creek, about 7 miles to the north-northwest of Saguaro Lake. Due to flowing water in the creek, their vehicle became stuck and necessitated a water rescue. There were several other vehicles trapped on river banks   awaiting the waters to recede so that they could proceed. There were no reports of accidents, injuries or fatalities. At the time there were no flood warnings in effect for the area as heavy rain had ended a long time ago.

Flood in GILA, ARIZONA
From 22-FEB-20 12:00:00 to 22-FEB-20 19:00:00 (MST-7)
Location: GLOBE
Flood cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: 1.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

A strong Pacific low pressure system spread copious amounts of moisture into south central Arizona during the day on Saturday February 22nd; this led to widespread moderate to heavy rain which began in the morning hours. Although rain rates were never overly high, the steady rain allowed for some locations to pick up upwards of 3 inches during the day and some areal flooding occurred as a result. Flooding occurred in the area around Globe; as reported by the Gila County Sheriff's Office at 1536MST flooding caused the Beer Tree Crossing at Pinal Creek to become closed. The closure was about 1 mile to the southeast of Globe. While there were no flood warnings issued, an areal flood advisory was put into effect shortly after the report of the closure at the Beer Tree Crossing.