By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

You’ve heard us say it many times: “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” when visibility gets low because of dust. But do you know what to do if you encounter heavy rain or flooding on the roads?

Monsoon season is still upon us, meaning heavy downpours are possible at any time. Even though much of the state is desert, heavy rain and flash flooding occur every year.

Today we’re sharing tips about driving in a downpour:

• Don’t risk crossing a flooded wash, even if it doesn’t look deep. It's easy to underestimate the power of running water; just a foot can carry off a vehicle.
• Avoid areas where water is pooling in travel lanes; if possible, use center lanes and drive in the tracks of the vehicle ahead of you.
• Do not drive around ‘Road Closed’ signs. You risk your life and face being cited under the state’s stupid motorist law.
• If traffic lights are out, treat an intersection just like a four-way stop.
• Expect the unexpected. Have extra supplies, including an emergency kit and drinking water, in case you experience an extended highway closure.
• Storm runoff can loosen boulders and rocks on slopes above highways. Stay alert in rockfall prone areas.
• Leave plenty of room between you and the vehicle ahead of you and be aware of the vehicles around you in other travel lanes. Braking and shorter stopping distances will be affected by wet roads and slippery roadway surfaces.
• It's important to always be looking ahead for potential problems. In low-lying areas along our state highway system, debris, mud and rocks can wind up on the roadway. Keep an eye out for storm debris ahead.
• Before you drive, inspect your windshield wipers and replace them if necessary.
• Turn on your headlights while driving.
• Avoid sudden braking, which can cause you to slide on the wet pavement. To slow down, take your foot off the gas pedal and brake slowly.
• The tires of larger vehicles, like trucks and buses, create spray that can lessen visibility, so don’t follow them too closely.
• Be cautious of hydroplaning. This occurs when a thin layer of water accumulates between your tires and the asphalt and your vehicle loses contact with the roadway. You might suddenly feel your vehicle sliding or drifting because you’ve lost traction. If you feel you are hydroplaning, ease your foot off the gas pedal until you regain traction. Do not brake suddenly. If you are sliding or drifting, gently turn your steering wheel in the direction of your slide.

Arizonans face all types of severe weather and need to be ready to take swift action when the weather abruptly changes.

By Dallas Hammit / ADOT Deputy Director for Transportation

Summer is officially here and it’s no surprise that Arizona is in for some extreme weather over the next few months — soaring temperatures, monsoon rain and dust storms are always in the season’s forecast. While no one can control the weather that’s headed our way, we all can plan ahead and take simple precautions to stay safe.

High temperatures

Even if your vehicle has air conditioning, you should always be ready for a potential breakdown or crash that could force you to spend an extended amount of time stopped on the road.

Besides prepping your vehicle — fueling up, testing the battery, checking tire pressure and topping off vital engine fluids — drivers should make sure they bring along an emergency kit. It can include things like extra water, healthy snacks, a fully charged cell phone (and cell phone charger), an umbrella for shade, hats, sunglasses and sunscreen. You’ll also want to have a good first-aid kit and any necessary prescribed medication. Of course, safety gear (reflective vests, flashlights, a travel tool kit and battery cables) is also vital.

You can find additional tips at azdot.gov/extreme-heat.

Monsoons

Monsoon storms can produce sudden, heavy rain. Drivers should always be prepared and, if necessary, be ready to wait out heavy rain, high winds and blowing dust.

If you find yourself driving during inclement weather, be sure to turn on your headlights and, when roads are wet, reduce speed and maintain a safe distance between your vehicle and the one ahead.

Avoid areas where water is pooling in travel lanes. If your vehicle appears to be hydroplaning, ease your foot off the gas pedal until you regain traction rather than braking suddenly, which can cause a vehicle to skid off the roadway. Don’t risk crossing a flooded wash, even if it doesn’t look deep. Just a few inches of running water can carry away a vehicle, even a heavy pickup truck or SUV.

There’s even more safety advice at azdot.gov/monsoon.

Dust storms

The No. 1 thing to remember about dust storms is to NOT drive into one — avoid these walls of dense, blowing dust by safely pulling off the road. Just as dangerous are the smaller dust channels that can whip across roadways in an instant, giving drivers little or no opportunity to avoid them.

If you encounter a dust storm or a dust channel, immediately check traffic around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down. Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway — do it as soon as possible. Once you’re safely off the road, turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers — you don’t want other vehicles approaching from behind to use your lights as a guide, possibly crashing into your parked vehicle. Set your emergency brake, take your foot off the brake and stay in your vehicle with your seat belt buckled until the storm passes.

Find additional safety tips and videos on PullAsideStayAlive.org.

Knowing what to do and having a plan could make a big difference if you’re confronted with extreme weather. I encourage you to visit the online safety resources listed above and share the information with your loved ones.

Editor's Note: More safety messages from Dallas Hammit, ADOT's state engineer, are available at Driving Safety Home on azdot.gov.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

Whether you believe that monsoon season begins June 15 – the date the National Weather Service selected back in 2008 – or when we reach a dew point milestone, there's no question that summer storms are coming.

Everyone who has been in Arizona through a summer knows what to expect. High winds. Blowing dust. Heavy downpours. Flash flooding that sends water rushing through riverbeds that are dry most of the year.

Our engineers know that, too.

That’s why people in Marana and northern Pima County can see pillars for one of the new bridges we’re building to carry Ina Road over the Santa Cruz River west of Interstate 10. Those pillars are right where torrents of water could soon be running if a large enough thunderstorm hits in the right place.

Something else our engineers know: People who live near large projects like the one on Ina Road want the work done as soon as possible. By building bridge supports during dry months, we can let the storm quickly pass and continue on with our work. That allows this project, scheduled to be complete in early 2019, to continue on schedule.

When you pull aside to let the monsoon storm pass and get back on your way this summer, know that our folks in hard hats are doing the same. All in the name of doing the job right and finishing the work on time.

By Ray Greely / ADOT Meteorology Intern

Monsoon rains are forecast to return to Arizona on Tuesday. Strong winds, blowing dust, heavy rain and lightning often accompany these storms from June through September.

Have you ever wondered what climatological features are responsible for these seasonal thunderstorms or why these storms often move from the east to west? We'll explain that and look at the reason why Tropical Storm Javier may bring heavy rain to the state this week.

The monsoon high pressure system

One critical ingredient to the Arizona monsoon is the sub-tropical or monsoon high that's part of a high-pressure belt forming along the northern flank of the tropics. During the winter and spring, this belt moves well south of Arizona, allowing for a westerly steering current to control Arizona’s weather. In the summer, it shifts north. This weakens and can even reverse the westerly flow depending on where it positions itself in relation to the state.

Winds flow out of any high pressure system in a clockwise direction. It is common for the monsoon high to become centered just east of Arizona and then drift north and south throughout the summer. If it moves south of the state, the flow around it will bring dry midlevel winds from the west and, usually, hot and dry weather. When it moves north of the state, a more tropical flow allows tropical moisture and disturbances to enter the state from the east.

System movement

Moisture sources

Thee significant moisture sources influence the Arizona monsoon.

The first is the Gulf of Mexico, where a high pressure system known as the Bermuda High becomes centered over the western Atlantic Ocean east of the southeast U.S. coast, bringing midlevel winds and moisture into central Mexico. While a significant amount of low-level moisture is blocked by mountain ranges, mid- and upper-level moisture can eventually settle in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora and then get funneled into Arizona.

Moisture from the Gulf of California is distributed into Arizona via a process known as the gulf surge. This begins when tropical disturbances bring unsettled and relatively cooler weather to areas adjacent to the southern Gulf of California while hot dry conditions persist in the areas to the north. A pressure gradient between the two regions forms, and air begins flowing toward the low pressure area in the hot north. This breeze transports low-level moisture through the northern gulf region into Arizona.

The third source is tropical cyclones that form in the eastern Pacific and wander close to the west coast of Mexico. Occasionally they get caught in the flow and can reach Arizona in the form of remnant tropical moisture. This is the weather pattern expected to occur this week as Tropical Storm Javier sends moisture into Arizona.

Thunderstorm Development

Intense heat and rugged terrain

Arizona’s rugged terrain and summer heat provide another important ingredient for thunderstorm development: rising air and instability. Since air cools and expands as it rises and cool air is unable to hold as much moisture as warm air, rising air can become saturated and begin to condense water in the form of clouds. Wind patterns that force air up into mountainous regions and Arizona's relentless summer sunshine that rapidly heats the ground both encourage air to rise. If the atmosphere has a sufficient amount of water vapor, thunderstorms may form.

Cloud stages

Outflow Boundaries

Rising air that fuels thunderstorms will come back down eventually. When thunderstorms reach maturity, this displaced air becomes colder than its environment, creating a downdraft that falls rapidly. When the downdraft reaches the ground, it spreads out in all directions, much like water pouring out of a glass onto the floor. These sometimes-violent winds, known as thunderstorm outflow boundaries, can cause blowing dust and, if strong enough, can force air upward to form new storms. These boundaries occasionally collide with one another and displace even more air upward, aiding in the development of strong or severe thunderstorms.

Editor's Note: ASU’s School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning has partnered with ADOT to place graduate-level meteorology students in the ADOT Traffic Operations Center. This allows ADOT to have better information about weather conditions and more quickly determine how to deploy crews and communicate with the public.

By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

Anyone who has spent a summer in Arizona knows that in addition to very hot temperatures, blowing dust can be an issue. As an intern, ASU meteorology student Paul Panhans has been working with ADOT to better prepare the agency for weather events. He recently shared what forecasters look for when predicting blowing dust and where some of the trouble spots are located.

Southern Arizona

In the southern Arizona, especially Pima and Cochise counties, the one thing meteorologists look for when forecasting dust is sustained winds of 20 knots (23 mph) with gusts to 30 knots (34 mph) or more. April and May are the months with the greatest chances of blowing dust. Forecasters must consider the length of time since the last rain event when predicting blowing dust. In desert areas, it doesn't take long for the soil to dry out after it rains.  Also, dry areas in front of a storm can kick up blowing dust.

Other hotspots for blowing dust include the area east of Tucson known as the Willcox Playa to the New Mexico line. Blowing dust is typically an issue here when wind is from the south/southwest.

Another place meteorologists regularly see blowing dust is along Interstate 10 from Marana to Phoenix. The area around Picacho Peak (mileposts 208-214) can be especially busy. Winds are usually out of the southeast when blowing dust kicks up. This area is also prone to haboobs, especially in the early part of the monsoon.

Northern Arizona, including Flagstaff

While north-central and northeastern Arizona is usually not affected by large haboobs, these areas sometimes see blowing dust ahead of cold fronts. When this happens, there will be 30 mph sustained winds with gusts up to 55 mph. If it’s a dry spring, early summer monsoon outflows can produce blowing dust.

Hotspots for blowing dust in this forecast area include:

I-40 West of Winslow: “Tucker Flat” 

Chinle Valley

Northwest Arizona

Blowing dust is more likely in northwest Arizona when there hasn't been rain. Gusty winds up to 30 mph are another sign meteorologists look for. The first few storms at the beginning of the monsoon are the most likely to cause trouble. The main hotspot for blowing dust is Red Lake, north of Kingman, as seen in the map below. Thunderstorm outflows that come in from the north/northeast can hit Red Lake and quickly drop visibility. State highways like State Route 66 and US 93 are affected by these thunderstorm outflows.

East of Kingman, the risk of blowing dust decreases as the elevation starts to increase and the amount of vegetation increases. Areas along Highway 95 near Lake Havasu rarely have issues with blowing dust.

Kingman and surrounding area

Fort Mohave and surrounding area

Agricultural development near Fort Mohave can cause occasional blowing dust.

Central Arizona and Phoenix

The biggest problem in central Arizona and Phoenix is usually not large haboobs but small-scale blowing dust. This is tough to diagnose and to forecast. The greatest chance of these smaller dust storms is during a drought and when a field that used to be vegetated has been plowed.

Problem-prone areas include:

• I-10 near Picacho Peak
• Mormon Trail
• Casa Grande
• Maricopa to Sun Lakes along State Route 347

It’s that time of year again when we remind you to “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” if you ever encounter a dust storm...

Even if you’ve heard the message before, we hope you’ll keep listening and help us spread the word because there are plenty of young drivers and new Arizona residents who might not yet understand the real dangers of driving into a dust storm.

Know anyone who fits that description? We encourage you to educate them about dust storm safety. Of course, you can point them in our direction!

From websites and blog posts to Tweets and haikus, we have a lot to share, including today’s video, a brand new public service announcement that was created by ADOT and its partners at the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the National Weather Service.

Haboob Haiku

In addition to the video and a new radio public-education announcement, ADOT will be using social media all this week to engage Arizonans in spreading the word to “Pull Aside, Stay Alive.”

You know what that means: the “Haboob Haiku Challenge” is back for a fourth year!

You can read in detail why we #HaboobHaiku in this blog post, and you’ll see that our main focus each year is to get people talking about the dangers of driving in dust storms. By building awareness about dust storm safety, we hope more drivers will know what to do when that next dust storm hits.

But this year we’re putting a slight twist on the tradition…

Instead of asking you to focus your poems on the “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” message as we have in the past, this monsoon season we’d like for you to show off your creativity by telling us where you'll be when the dust settles with haikus about how to drive safely during dust storm events. Here’s an example:

When the dust settles

I will be safe off the road

With my seatbelt on

Don’t forget to use the #HaboobHaiku hashtag. You can Tweet your poems to us @ArizonaDOT or post them to our Facebook page. You’ll also want to remember that haiku is a type of poetry that conforms to a certain syllable structure. These poems are traditionally written in three lines – the first line consists of five syllables, the second line has seven and the third ends the poem with five.

Finally, we want to make sure you see (and share) these driving tips. They’re not just inspiration for your haikus, but important reminders for drivers who encounter a dust storm.

• Avoid driving into or through a dust storm.
• If you encounter a dust storm, check traffic immediately around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down.
• Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway – do it as soon as possible. Completely exit the highway if you can.
• Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane; look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway.
• Stop your vehicle in a position ensuring it is a safe distance from the main roadway and away from where other vehicles may travel.
• Turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers.
• Set your emergency brake and take your foot off the brake.
• Stay in the vehicle with your seatbelts buckled and wait for the storm to pass.
• Drivers of high-profile vehicles should be especially aware of changing weather conditions and travel at reduced speeds in high wind.
• A driver’s alertness and safe driving ability are always the top factors in preventing crashes. It is your responsibility to avoid distracted or impaired driving.

For more information, please visit PullAsideStayAlive.org.