PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Travelers and people across the Valley felt the effects of the monsoon on Monday.

The FAA issued a ground stop at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport at around 5:30 p.m. It’s expected to last until 6:30 p.m. and is affecting departures.

Phoenix saw wind gusts of 52 mph and visibility was down to only 3 miles near downtown Phoenix and Deer Valley at around 5:45 p.m.

As of 5:45 p.m., Apache Junction received 0.31″ of rain while Mesa got 0.28″. Outside the Phoenix area, San Tan Valley got nearly half an inch.

Blowing dust made its way through downtown Phoenix.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning that includes Cave Creek, Apache Junction, Queen Creek, Florence, and Fountain Hills that lasted until 5:45 p.m.

It comes after a few isolated storms moved into the far East Valley.

A dust storm advisory was also issued for parts of Maricopa County and Pinal County that lasted until 5:30 p.m.

Rain could be seen in Mesa near state Route 24 and Ironwood Road around 4:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, happy meteorological fall, which begins today and runs through Nov. 30!

And since meteorological summer is over, we can now declare the Phoenix summer as the 4th hottest and 25th driest on record.

Monday’s highs will reach around 107.

As we conclude the holiday weekend, people traveling back to the Valley from the mountains may drive through a few isolated showers and storms this evening.

It will cool off a bit on Tuesday and Wednesday with highs around 105. Those evenings, there is a slight chance that a few isolated showers could reach metro Phoenix, but the more likely scenario is that we get some gusty outflow winds.

The best chance of rain this week is Thursday through Saturday, with a 20-30% of storms in the Valley.

A big part of the weather story later this week will be the dropping temperatures. Highs are forecast in the low 100s on Thursday, with the potential of upper 90s on Friday through Saturday!

For the northern mountains, after a few isolated storms today and Tuesday, the monsoon will become more active from Wednesday through Saturday with more widespread coverage of showers and thunderstorms.

For southwestern Arizona, some heavy rain is possible Monday overnight into Wednesday as a possible cluster of thunderstorms, known as a “Sonoran MCV”, moves through this area.

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