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Monsoon storms battered the Valley with heavy rain and high winds nearly every day from last Wednesday through the weekend.
Fountain Hills was hit by three of those storms. One Sunday evening, Aug. 12, moved through quickly with strong winds, rain and hail. A 60-foot eucalyptus tree in the median in front of Town Hall was uprooted during the Sunday storm. Avenue of the Fountains was closed at La Montana Drive into Monday morning as crews worked to remove the fallen tree from the street.
The town had a hard time keeping its rain gauge at Fountain Park upright as wind gusts up to 62 miles per hour blew it over during the storm on Wednesday, Aug. 8. Storms on Friday and Sunday evenings both recorded wind gusts around 40 miles per hour.
On Sunday, gusts of wind reportedly blew open doors at the Bashas’ store and caused considerable damage to displays on the floor.
Maricopa County Flood Control District has nine rainfall monitoring sites within Fountain Hills and six of those received more than two inches of rain over the three storms.
The greatest amount received was the rain gauge at Stone Ridge Dam, just west of Fountain Hills Boulevard near Cholla Drive. That monitoring site received nearly three inches over the week (2.99).
A rain gauge outside The Times office on Laser Drive collected 2.25 inches between Wednesday and Sunday night.
As with earlier storms, there was considerable damage to trees, either uprooted or limbs lost, and the considerable rain running through the washes left debris several feet deep at some wash crossings at the north end of town. Town crews were out all night cutting trees and shoveling debris to clear the streets, according to Public Works Director Justin Weldy.
County crews were out clearing sand and debris from wash crossings on McDowell Mountain Road between Fountain Hills and Rio Verde.
Rio Verde received 1.77-inch of rain collectively between Wednesday and Friday at a backyard rain gauge owned by Todd Korb. No rainfall was collected in Rio Verde on Sunday evening.
Forecasters are urging people to brace for more of the same in coming days and through the end of the monsoon.
