Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2026

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 50, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 17, 2026Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 17, 2026, 3:05 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 31 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 17, 2026, 3:05 PM MST (22:05 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 2026, 3:36 PM MST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Storm-based polygon
Hail
1.0 in
Wind
60.0 mph

County Pima County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:09 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Phoenix, AZ (KPSR), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 149 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Phoenix, AZ at 12:00Z on 2026-07-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 57 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phoenix, AZ at 12:00Z on 2026-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 22 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
57 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1188 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 17, 2:55 PM MST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 2:55 PM MST, 10 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
255 PM MST Fri Jul 17 2026

.SYNOPSIS...Scattered showers and thunderstorms into this evening
with an elevated risk of flash flooding, especially across
those areas that received heavy rainfall Thursday. Otherwise,
chances for thunderstorms will continue into this weekend with
possible uptick in activity next Monday and Tuesday.

&&

.DISCUSSION...Not surprising that thunderstorm activity today
has been much less than what occurred on Thursday. Atmosphere is
a little worked over but is still rather moist that any
thunderstorm will be capable of producing rain rates of >1"/hour
leading to continued threat of localized flash flooding. Very
low end severe threat with max gusts up to 45 mph. Activity will
be diminishing later this evening with some model guidance
indicating an area of showers/storms may develop overnight
between Phoenix & Tucson. The upper low currently over west
Texas will become a player in our forecast next week.

This weekend: Afternoon/evening storm activity mainly east and
south of Tucson.

Monday and Tuesday: Uptick in daily activity as the above
mentioned upper low that is currently over west Texas moves
across the area in a weakened state.

Wednesday and Friday: Daily chance of showers and thunderstorms
continue.

High temperatures will remain below normal thru Tuesday then
warm up to above normal by the end of next week.

&&

.AVIATION...Valid through 19/00Z.
Widely scattered to scattered showers and thunderstorms will
continue 18/07Z before slowly diminishing thru 18/13z. Heavy
rain, mountain obscurations, and erratic strong wind gusts of
30-40 kts possible with any storm, with ceilings mainly 9k-12k
feet. Outside of thunderstorms, surface winds generally under
10 kts. Chance of -SHRA/TS developing aft 18/19z. Aviation
discussion not updated for TAF amendments.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...Daily chances for thunderstorms will continue
each afternoon and evening through the next 7 days with day to
day variability. Minimum relative humidity 25-30 percent in the
lower desert locations and above 40 percent in the mountains
this week. Winds this week will remain mainly light and under 15
mph, though strong and erratic winds will be possible with any
thunderstorm.

&&

.TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...None.

&&

Visit us on Facebook, X, YouTube, and at weather.gov/Tucson

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 17, 9:29 AM MST, 5 hours 36 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
929 AM MST Fri Jul 17 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0513 PM     Flash Flood      1 SW Rio Rico           31.47N 110.99W
07/16/2026                   Santa Cruz         AZ   County Official

            *** 2 FATAL ***
            [Delayed report]: 2 deceased individuals
            reported in the Santa Cruz River. Recovery
            ongoing.

&&

KLM
Local storm report, Jul 17, 10:00 AM MST, 5 hours 5 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
1000 AM MST Fri Jul 17 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0900 AM     Flood            4 S Santa Rosa          32.28N 112.06W
07/17/2026                   Pima               AZ   Emergency Mngr

            Washes running on Route 15.

&&

KLM
Local storm report, Jul 17, 10:16 AM MST, 4 hours 49 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
1016 AM MST Fri Jul 17 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0535 PM     Flash Flood      14 NW Sells             32.03N 112.07W
07/16/2026                   Pima               AZ   Emergency Mngr

            [Delayed report] Several washes running
            across HWY 86 between mile marker 99-106.

&&

KLM
Local storm report, Jul 17, 10:50 AM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
1050 AM MST Fri Jul 17 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0630 PM     Flash Flood      6 ENE Tombstone         31.74N 109.96W
07/16/2026                   Cochise            AZ   Fire Dept/Rescue

            [Delayed report] Wash flowing across Gleeson
            Rd.

0630 PM     Flash Flood      2 WSW Tombstone         31.71N 110.08W
07/16/2026                   Cochise            AZ   Fire Dept/Rescue

            [Delayed report] Wash flowing across
            Charleston Rd.

&&
Local storm report, Jul 17, 11:28 AM MST, 3 hours 37 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
1128 AM MST Fri Jul 17 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0400 PM     Flash Flood      11 W Huachuca City      31.66N 110.53W
07/16/2026                   Santa Cruz         AZ   Trained Spotter

            [Delayed report] 4 to 6 inches of water
            flowing across roadway near Rochelle and
            Lower Elgin Rd.

&&

KLM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tucson, AZ issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 16, 5:01 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise3 hr
Jul 16, 5:12 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCSanta Cruz3 hr
Jul 16, 5:23 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima3 hr
Jul 16, 5:33 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCGraham3 hr
Jul 16, 5:33 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima3 hr
Jul 16, 6:26 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima114 min
Jul 16, 6:31 PM MSTDust Storm AdvisoryTWCPinal74 min
Jul 16, 7:41 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima3 hr
Jul 16, 8:16 PM MSTAreal Flood AdvisoryTWCPima4 hr
Jul 17, 8:53 AM MSTAreal Flood AdvisoryTWCPima112 min
Jul 17, 1:51 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima2 hr
Jul 17, 2:57 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise3 hr
Jul 17, 3:04 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima3 hr
Jul 17, 4:54 PM MSTAreal Flood AdvisoryTWCPinal66 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 2026Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.