A severe thunderstorm that rolled through Maricopa last night brought power outages, pounding rain and a nonstop lightning show that lit up the night sky. 

According to Electrical District No. 3, heavy winds and lightning strikes knocked out power for hundreds of residents, including at Desert Sunrise High School, as the storm moved through. That brief power outage at DSHS knocked several air conditioning units offline and required resets to the fire panel and elevator, said MUSD spokeswoman Mishell Terry. The facilities team responded quickly this morning, and students had classes in cooled areas of campus while repairs were underway.

The City of Maricopa reported no major damage, though there was some brief flash flooding and plenty of tree debris to clean up this morning. 

Here’s how the evening unfolded:

7 p.m. Nearly 300 homes lost power, mostly in Ak-Chin Indian Community neighborhoods and further south near Stanfield.

8 p.m. The wind and rain really picked up, sending branches into power lines. Outages spiked, leaving more than 700 customers without service across the city.

10:30 p.m. This was the peak of the outages. Crews had already restored power to some neighborhoods, but large clusters were still offline.

11 p.m. Most of the city’s lights flickered back on, though about 70 homes near Stanfield remained in the dark until just before midnight. 

This morning. Sixteen homes were still without power, but repair crews were working to finish restorations.

While the power is mostly back on, the weather warnings aren’t over yet. 

The National Weather Service in Phoenix has issued a Flood Watch for this afternoon into the evening, covering much of Pinal County, including Maricopa and surrounding communities. Forecasters say slow-moving storms could dump enough rain to cause flooding in rivers, creeks and low-lying areas. The NWS urges residents to keep an eye on forecasts and be ready to move quickly if waters rise. 

On top of that, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has extended its Ozone High Pollution Advisory through tonight for the region. Health officials warn that the mix of storm conditions and ozone levels could make air quality unsafe for children, older adults and anyone with breathing issues.