© Cheryl Evans/The RepublicA dust storm rolls across the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community on Saturday, June 27, 2015.
The National Weather Service says the Valley will return to regular programming during the workweek. Expect highs to hover around 110 degrees during the day, while lows will be in the mid-80s at night. Wednesday looks like the best chance of more thunderstorms, with the Weather Service putting the likelihood at 20 percent.
Strong winds knocked out power to thousands of customers across the Valley on Saturday. Some endured triple-digit heat with no air-conditioning, while outside trees were felled or stripped of foliage.
By midday Sunday, as the cleanup got underway and power was restored, the state braced for another powerful storm by dinnertime.
That storm clouded highways throughout central and southern Arizona, caused heavy downpours and flood watches in Rim Country, and led to reports of 70 mph gusts in Gila Bend. No serious damage was immediately reported there.
Likewise, the worst was spared in the Yavapai County community of Mayer, where a 25-acre fire broke out on the second anniversary of the deadly Yarnell Hill Fire. As crews battled the flames on the ground and from the air, a strong thunderstorm cell appeared nearby, the Weather Service reported.
Weekend Dust Storms
Similar conditions two years ago turned a brush fire into a raging, fast-moving, wind-whipped blaze that overcame Prescott's Granite Mountain Hotshots and killed 19 of the crew's firefighters two days after the lightning strike.
© AJ CampbellA dust storm approaches the Phoenix area Sunday, June 28, 2015, as seen from the Johnson Ranch Golf Club in the San Tan Valley area.
Elsewhere Sunday, the issue was heavy downpour. Dewey, in Yavapai County, recorded heavy rain. Hail was reported in the high country and in Gila Bend. Near Oracle, one rain gauge recorded a quarter-inch in 15 minutes. The Flood Control District of Maricopa County issued warnings for heavy rains and lightning at Bartlett Lake following an account Saturday of a boater capsizing at nearby Roosevelt Lake and needing a rescue.
For the Valley, most of Sunday's weather events were dust-driven. But that was muted because the storm seemed to head straight into South Mountain Park, where the peaks broke up the thickest haze.
Saturday's storm was more severe.
That storm brought winds topping 45 mph with little rain in the area. Scattered, brief rainfall was reported in Queen Creek and Tempe. Wind speed ranged from 30 to 50 mph throughout the Valley, with the harshest winds blowing in the east.
APS reported a total of 16,000 customers were without power beginning at about 9 p.m. Additional crews were brought to assist with repairs. By 6:30 a.m. Sunday, 13 Paradise Valley customers still needed help.
"We can't control mother nature, but we can control how quickly and safely we can make repairs," APS spokesman Steven Gotfried said.
Salt River Project reported 6,200 customers without power, and poles down along Mesa Drive in Scottsdale. Earlier, more than 15,000 were without power in temperatures around 100 degrees.
The Apache Junction area seemed to be hit particularly hard, with close to 9,000 SRP customers affected there, according to the SRP outages Web page.
Tempe police reported a streetlight was down near River Drive and Loop 101, and Scottsdale reported a tree had been blown over and was blocking Scottsdale Road near Rio Salado College.
Motorists on Interstate 10 and I-8 through Maricopa and northern Pinal counties were warned of extremely dangerous driving conditions by the Arizona Department of Transportation. I-10 approaching the I-8 junction was briefly closed due to blowing dust.
The Weather Service reminded motorists to pull off the road if encountering a dust storm while driving.
Earlier Saturday, high winds from a thunderstorm caused a boat to flip at Roosevelt Lake, according to fire officials.
One person was rescued after the boat capsized, according to an official with the Tonto Basin Fire District.
Gila County released severe thunderstorm warnings for damaging winds, destructive hail, deadly lightning and very heavy rain for the area near Tonto National Monument, Roosevelt Lake and Apache Lake.
Pima County warned its residents as well, stating that winds in excess of 45 miles per hour are expected along with dust storms.
Reporter Garrett Mitchell contributed to this article.
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