Thunderstorm Wind, Maricopa
- When
- August 14, 6:30 PM MST to 7:15 PM MST
- Where
- Maricopa County, Phoenix to Buckeye
- Property damage
- $100 million
- Coordinates
- 33.480, -112.070
Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 14, 1996
Every town in the western half of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area reported some damage. The hardest hit areas were in northwest Phoenix, Glendale, and Peoria.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $100 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PSR wrote it up.
Every town in the western half of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area reported some damage. The hardest hit areas were in northwest Phoenix, Glendale, and Peoria. Other towns that sustained damage were Sun City, Surprise, El Mirage, Tolleson, Avondale, Goodyear, and Buckeye. Approximately 400 power poles were knocked down throughout these towns, 100 owned by SRP and 300 owned by APS. There were from 70,000 to 75,000 homeowner claims for about $100 million in damage.
The radar
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:31 UTC.
Event by event
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in New Mexico, August 14, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 14, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 14, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 14, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 14, 1996
- Flash Flood in Nebraska, August 14, 1996
- Hail in Wyoming, August 14, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Nebraska, August 14, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 14, 1996
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 14, 1996
- Hail in Wyoming, August 14, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, August 14, 1996
More
Every storm in Arizona in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, August 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5575571.