(Photo by Arizona Department of Transportation)

Flooding closed Interstate 17 on Aug. 2, 2016.

(Photo by Kathy Ritchie - KJZZ)

Smartphone storm radar showed a monsoon moving in toward Central Phoenix Tuesday evening.

(Photo by Stina Sieg - KJZZ)

Waves lap in a parking lot at Camelback Road and 27th Avnue in Phoenix.

Heavy rains Tuesday evening shut down parts of Interstate 17 and caused flooding on city streets. So much rain fell in a short amount of time that the National Weather Service (NWS) was calling the storm a “100 year event.”

Chris Kuhlman with the NWS said the one of the hardest hit areas was in Central Phoenix.

"It was generally just north of downtown, anywhere between Highway 51 and I-17 from probably McDowell Road up through Glendale Avenue," Kuhlman said, with more than 3.5 inches of rain falling near Thomas Road and 20th Street.

In 2014, a monsoon that flooded parts of Interstate 10 dumped more than 3.2 inches of rain.