Dark, damp days have been relatively unusual the past year but, over this past weekend, a series of storm systems moved through the state with the main attraction being a pounding storm on Monday afternoon, Jan. 25, that brought rain, hail, graupel (snowlike soft hail) and high winds.

The McDowell Mountains in Fountain Hills were dusted white by late afternoon.

The storm left a significant mark on the high country of Arizona with feet of snow falling, closing roads and isolating the north country from central and southern parts of the state. SR 87, familiar to locals as the Beeline Highway, was closed between the Bush Highway and Winslow, more than 100 miles.

At Fountain Park the weather station for the Town of Fountain Hills received 1.13 inch of rain with winds that gusted to 45 miles per hour on Monday.

The Maricopa County Flood Control District rainfall monitoring sites in Fountain Hills collected varying amounts of precipitation through the series of storms, with more than 1 inch along Hesperus Wash in McDowell Mountain Park as well as at the park’s central rain gauge, which collected 1.30 inch.

The water tank off Golden Eagle Blvd. at Eagles Nest received .94 inch as did the site at the dam on the SunRidge Canyon Golf Course. At Fire Station #1 on Palisades Blvd. the rain gauge collected .87 inch.

At Adero Canyon Trailhead the monitor was not operating through the weekend, but .47 inch was received on Monday alone.

Weather forecasts call for an additional storm front to move through later in the week with another chance of rain.