This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
A thunderstorm dropped about an inch of rain in roughly 30 minutes over parts of the Grand Canyon on Saturday, prompting evacuations and a rare closure of the Colorado River.
As of Sunday morning, officials had evacuated at least 62 people from Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon and from the lower North Kaibab Trail, according to a press release from Grand Canyon National Park.
Rain also fell on areas burned by the 2025 Dragon Bravo Fire, contributing to the severity of flooding and debris flows through Bright Angel Creek and into the Colorado River.
The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch that remains in effect until Monday. Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground and the entire North Kaibab Trail from the trailhead to Phantom Ranch are closed until further notice. The Colorado River is closed to boating traffic.
The National Park Service and Arizona Department of Public Safety plan to evacuate more people from Cottonwood Campground and Phantom Ranch on Sunday morning.
Officials say evacuees being taken to the Maswik Lodge Cafeteria at the canyon’s South Rim, where the American Red Cross is providing assistance.
The press release says no injuries have been reported.
It’s common for the Grand Canyon to receive intense rainfall, but not in such a sensitive area, says Justin Johndrow, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Flagstaff.
“The amounts that we saw in that short period of time were fairly unusual for that exact location,” says Johndrow. “No. 1, it's steep. It's rocky. So a lot of the rain that falls runs off doesn't sink into the ground. [Bright Angel] creek that runs through there is dropping thousands of feet in a short distance, which is pretty unusual when you look around the country. Not a lot of places have streams that are that steep.”
Part of the reason for the flooding is due to water flowing over the Dragon Bravo burn scar, he adds. The Dragon Bravo Fire was a massive blaze that burned parts of the North Rim in 2025.
Rain fell in the Grand Canyon on Friday night and Saturday morning, Johndrow tells KNAU. But it was a thunderstorm that hit around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday that set off the flooding.
“The area was primed for flooding, and then at around 2:30 p.m. a very strong thunderstorm moved in from the south and added half to one inch of rain in about 30 minutes, and that was kind of what set off the flash flood that affected those areas,” he says.
Videos posted on social media appear to show large pieces of metal bobbing down a muddy Colorado River.
The national park’s press release says nearly all footbridges spanning Bright Angel Creek were destroyed, eliminating hiker access across the creek.
Data from the U.S. Geological Survey appear to show river flows below the creek spiking sharply on Saturday.
All of northern Arizona is under a flash flood watch until Monday evening due to the possibility for more storms. Johndrow says it’s possible there will be more flooding during that time.
