What the hail? Watch video of the Valley’s surprising ice storm

On Thursday, the high was 107 degrees. On Friday morning, balls of ice fell from the sky.

September 26, 2025

Dime-sized hail dropped on Phoenix late Friday morning. Tirion Boan

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The scientific explanation is a bit technical. Just as Phoenix is transitioning from one season to another, a low-pressure storm system from the west pushed cold air up higher in the sky, causing instability. As a result, it formed balls of ice that began pelting areas of the Valley late Friday morning.

In layman's terms: It's a hail storm. IN SEPTEMBER. Yesterday, we should note, the high temperature was 107 degrees.

According to National Weather Service meteorologist Gabriel Lojero, a late-September hailstorm may not be common in Phoenix, but it's also "not unheard of." When slipping from one season into another, such weather events can occur. But, it should be noted, this ain't a monsoon storm.

"It’s not a typical monsoonal thunderstorm day," Lojero said.

According to Lojero, NWS radar has picked up hail in Peoria and Sun City as big as an inch in diameter. Anecdotally, Phoenix residents — including a few staff members at Phoenix New Times — posted videos and photos of hail that big and perhaps larger.

If the hailstorm bypassed you, here's what you missed.

September hail storm is a new one pic.twitter.com/M7M2sKah0E
— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) September 26, 2025

pic.twitter.com/dGwzGlp0O0
— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) September 26, 2025

Hail in Central Phoenix #azwx

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— Amy Donohue (@thefabulousone.bsky.social) September 26, 2025 at 11:07 AM

Been a minute since it’s hailed at my house in Phoenix…. Like half hailing… #azwx

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— Emma (@emmabella212.bsky.social) September 26, 2025 at 11:05 AM

Holy hell it’s dropping dime sized hail in central Phoenix! #azwx

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— Christopher Boan (@cgboan.bsky.social) September 26, 2025 at 11:02 AM

Zach Buchanan has been the news editor for the Phoenix New Times since April 2024. He's worked as a journalist in Phoenix for more than a decade, and is an alum of both The Athletic and the Arizona Republic. He's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and has taught as an associate professor at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

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