By Shawn Henry 
A freak wave of storms barreled through the Southwest Thursday, pelting Phoenix with enough icy chunks to turn chunks of Interstate 10 into something straight out of a winter postcard. Imagine cruising through the desert, then boom: your windshield’s getting pummeled while the highway morphs into a temporary ski slope. Total chaos out there.
This wasn’t your average drizzle. The whole mess kicked off when a bigger weather monster flexed its muscles over the region, sparking torrential downpours, wicked lightning, and hail cores popping up like uninvited party crashers. Phoenix got hammered—sheets of hail slicked up I-10, turning morning commutes into a bumper-car rally on ice. Social media lit up with surreal shots of cars carving paths through the frozen mess, looking more Colorado than Arizona.
But wait, it gets wilder. The same system bulldozed east into Texas, swapping hail for a whole new nightmare: flash floods. Emergency alerts blared across several counties as rain bands parked themselves like stubborn houseguests, threatening to drown roads, swamp neighborhoods, and turn creeks into raging bullies.
@foxweather 🧊HAIL OF A DRIVE: Severe storms blanketed parts of the Phoenix area with so much hail that Interstate 10 looked like a winter wonderland. The same storm system brought flash flood warnings to Texas Thursday. Details: #phoenix #arizona #thunderstorm #hail #i10 ♬ original sound – FOX Weather
Late-season storms in the Southwest? Never boring. Arizona usually sees hail when monsoon fury collides with desert sizzle, but this one was a short, sharp shock—just enough to trash some cars and tear up landscaping before skipping town.
Authorities in both states warned drivers to keep their guard up as new storm cells bubbled on the radar. Phoenix thawed out quick, but Texas? Different story. Flood fears lingered well into the night, leaving folks to wonder when the weather would finally cut them a break.