Arizona, 2000

Flood in Arizona, October 22 to 23, 2000

October 22 to 23, 2000 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Following quickly after the storm system on the 19th, the third major storm system was unusually powerful for mid October. Accompanying the system was a 160kt 300mb jet which helped tilt the system before closing off south of San Diego on the 22nd.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
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 TWC wrote it up.

Following quickly after the storm system on the 19th, the third major storm system was unusually powerful for mid October. Accompanying the system was a 160kt 300mb jet which helped tilt the system before closing off south of San Diego on the 22nd. Dramatic height falls in an area of high precipitable water values caused widespread precipitation. The 700mb winds were from the south at 30 to 40kts. The low became nearly stationary over the northernmost part of Baja Peninsula on the 22nd. Rainfall rates of one inch per hour fell for several hours over Northern Sonora. The heaviest rain in the valleys were associated with the deformation zone passing aloft. The mountains in Greenlee, Graham, and Pima counties also received several inches of snow. By the evening of the 22nd the low began to lift north into western Arizona.

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Upper Gila River Valley

When
October 22, 6:29 PM MST to October 23, 9:00 AM MST
Where
Upper Gila River Valley forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Secondary roads between Safford and Solomon were barricaded due to high water levels. The Gila River near Solomon reached highest level of 13.8 feet at 1 am on the 23rd. The flood stage is 17 feet. The San Francisco River at Clifton reached highest water levels of 19.4 feet at 1pm on the 23rd. The flood stage is 23 feet. As standard procedure the flood gates were tested. The Blue River just north of Clifton reached highest water levels of 13.8 feet at 9 am on the 23rd. The flood stage is 15 feet. In higher elevations the precipitation fell in the form of snow. Highway 366 received 2 to 5 inches of snow.

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, October 2000

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5161486.