Highlights
- The National Weather Service in Phoenix issued a Flood Advisory for Gila and Maricopa counties at 5:19 p.m. Sunday, expiring at 8:15 p.m.
- Between 0.25 and 0.75 inches of rain had already fallen by advisory time, with up to 0.5 additional inches expected.
- Affected locations include Canyon Lake, Tonto Basin, Sycamore Creek, and Tortilla Flat — popular recreation corridors east of Scottsdale.
- NWS warns drivers not to enter flooded roads; most flood deaths occur in vehicles.
FLOOD ADVISORY: The National Weather Service in Phoenix issued a Flood Advisory for Gila County and Maricopa County at 5:19 p.m. MST Sunday, July 12, with the advisory running until 8:15 p.m. MST.
Doppler radar at the time of issuance indicated heavy rain from active thunderstorms. Between 0.25 and 0.75 inches of rain had already fallen across the advisory area, and NWS said up to an additional 0.5 inches was expected, sufficient to produce minor flooding in low-lying and poor-drainage areas.
Locations listed by NWS as likely to experience flooding include Ballantine Trailhead, Round Valley, Sugarloaf Mountain, Sunflower, Sycamore Creek, Four Peaks, Tonto Basin, Canyon Lake, Apache Lake, and Tortilla Flat, a stretch of the Tonto National Forest that draws heavy weekend recreation traffic from the Scottsdale and Phoenix metro area.
NWS classified the event as minor severity. The agency's standing instruction applies: turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads, and campers and hikers should avoid streams and creeks during heavy rain. NWS notes that most flood deaths occur in vehicles.
The advisory is set to expire at 8:15 p.m. MST. Readers can monitor current conditions at weather.gov/safety/flood.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- api.weather.gov retrieved 13/07/2026 00:20
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 13/07/2026 00:20. Every claim traces to a source.
