High Winds, Rain and Dust Pound on Arizona Roofs

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

Over the weekend, major cities in Arizona faced the rage of mother nature and are now left cleaning up the mess. 

On Saturday, July 10, 2021, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a severe thunderstorm warning and blowing dust advisory for major areas of Arizona, namely Pheonix, Tuscon and parts across the Southeast Valley, especially near Queen Creek.  

Downed trees could be witnessed at nearly every house in these areas along with broken windows, damaged cars, homes and roofs. People even reported watching their backyard trampolines fly from their homes. 

Across the East Valley, 60 mile-per-hour winds whipped through the area along with 110,000 recorded lightning strikes. Power lines faced a lot of damage, and many people were cut off from their usual power supply. According to statements on Sunday from Salt River Project and the Arizona Public Service, the storm left over 60,000 homes and businesses without power, and some estimates suggest as many as 90,000 people were left without electricity. Many power lines were still down as of Sunday afternoon. 

On man reported his entire roof was torn off during the storm: “The roof blew off. . . I thought [it] was probably a few shingles so I came down [Saturday] night and low and behold the roof apparatus over the car park was missing and a lot of other damage,” said a Pheonix resident. 

Meteorologists suggest the damage was caused by a squall; which is a strong, sudden wind or, in nautical use, a severe local storm with winds, cloud mass, thunder and lightning. Interestingly, this storm brought dust and thunder, but not much rain. In fact, just 30% of the valley saw precipitation, which kept the area in an excessive heat warning with temperatures on Sunday hitting a high of 110° Farenheit.  

RoofersCoffeeShop® Media Coordinator Nicole Hougland was staying in Queen Creek over the weekend when the storm hit. She reported seeing lots of damaged roofs, uprooted trees and noticeable roofing and house debris scattered everywhere. 

“There are people with temporary black tarps over their destroyed roofs,” said Nicole. “A lot of these homes are already under construction for new roofs. There is also a new neighborhood being built near me and a lot of those houses had some messed-up tiles or other roofing materials displaced from the wind.”  

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