Arizona was forced to cancel its college football practice because of a monsoon. The massive rainstorm not only caused campus to lose power, it left the field a muddy mess.
Fortunately, the Wildcats grounds crew did an outstanding job with its overnight cleanup.
You would never know the college football field was covered in dirt and standing water. The same cannot be said for the rest of of the city!
When is Monsoon Season?
Tucson is nestled into the valley of the Sonoran Desert surrounded by five mountain ranges. The region is known for its lush vegetation and unique desert ecosystem.
Part of that ecosystem includes the weather.
Daily temperatures typically hover between 90–100º in the month of August with nighttime lows between 70-80º. However, it is slightly cooler (and more humid) than June and July because of cloud cover and rain.
August is peak monsoon season. A seasonal shift in wind patterns bring increase moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean to Arizona, which often causes intense thunderstorms in the late afternoon for 30-60 minutes.
Tucson got smacked.
The most recent storm wreaked havoc on the campus at the University of Arizona. Clouds came out of nowhere.
Here's a bit of a panorama of our extensive thunderheads this afternoon. From north of Tucson wrapping around the city to the east-we may get something later! We need rain, just not WIND pic.twitter.com/iPKkE9N0mN
— Allan Rose 🌵🌹🌴🍊😎🌮🌈⚽🌊🌊🌊💙🟦🟧 (@SonoranSteve97) August 17, 2025
It also happened to be move-in weekend for students so the freshmen were very quickly introduced to the power of a monsoon.
The entire city was underwater.
Trees blocked the roads.
It was chaos.
All of that in just 30 minutes. And then it was sunny again.
Arizona cancelled college football practice.
The Wildcats were supposed to practice on the turf field at Arizona Stadium just a few hours after the monsoon hit Tucson. They had to call it off.
The field was unplayable.
Even though the plays got the night off, the University of Arizona grounds crew was just getting started. They worked extremely hard to get the field back to where it needs to be.
The crew came to work. Thankful for a dedicated staff. #PressureMakesDiamonds pic.twitter.com/7M5moxIGVm
— Darren Criswell, CSFM (@ZonaGrassGuy) August 17, 2025
You would not know it was covered in mud just that morning. The Wildcats returned to practice for an open scrimmage as if nothing happened, less than 24 hours after the monsoon destroyed the field.
Good night for a football practice. 🏈 pic.twitter.com/ILZNDGdL9X
— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) August 18, 2025
Shoutout to the grounds crew. That is an impressive turnaround!