Window Rock faces flash flooding after 2 inches of rain fell in an hour

Heavy rainfall hit Window Rock in northern Arizona, dropping more than two inches of rain in an hour Tuesday afternoon. 

Rain first began to fall in this area around 4:15 p.m., but the heavier rainfall came in about 30 minutes later, said National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Peterson.

Shortly thereafter, the recorded rainfall at the Window Rock airport reached 2.9 inches, the bulk of which fell within a 30-minute window, Peterson said. Window Rock is the capital of Navajo Nation. 

"I would say it's probably the most single-day rainfall in Window Rock this monsoon season, I can't recall anything near this so far," he said. 

The rainfall caused significant flooding on roads in and around Window Rock, including at multiple intersections along Highway 264.

A flash flood warning remains in effect until 9:15 p.m. Tuesday for portions of Apache County and until 9:45 p.m. for portions of Navajo County, according to weather service tweets.

Photos from cameras operated by the Arizona Department of Transportation that were posted online showed cars trying to navigate roads covered by brown floodwaters. 

Throughout this monsoon season, most of the flash flooding on the Navajo Nation has been further west, concentrated largely in central Navajo County and west-central Apache County, Peterson said. 

"In general, Window Rock is higher elevation so we don't have some of the lower elevation rock and clay forming problems that we do on the rest of the reservation," he said. 

Contact northern Arizona reporter Lacey Latch at llatch@gannett.com or on social media @laceylatch. Coverage of northern Arizona on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is funded by the nonprofit Report for America and a grant from the Vitalyst Health Foundation in association with The Arizona Republic.