Name: Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 11, 2001
Start: 2001-08-11T16:10
End: 2001-08-11T16:10
Location: Arizona

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 11, 2:45 PM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 2:45 PM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-120545-

SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
245 PM MST SAT AUG 11 2001

.SYNOPSIS...
A VERY MOIST AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS
WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH LESSER AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE
EXPECTED OVER FAR SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. THIS
MEANS THAT THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL
ARIZONA...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS.
HIGH PRESSURE WILL BECOME ESTABLISHED NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS EARLY
NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL GIVE A MORE EASTERLY FLOW ALOFT WHICH WILL
SERVE TO PUSH DEEPER MOISTURE FURTHER WEST...FOR BETTER CHANCES OF
STORMS ALONG AND WEST OF THE COLORADO RIVER AFTER SUNDAY.

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS REMAIN IN AGREEMENT. UPPER HIGH OVER SOUTHERN CA HAS BEEN
MOVING NORTH TOWARD SOUTHERN NV TODAY AND WILL CONTINUE INTO 4
CORNERS REGION ON SUNDAY. UPPER FLOW TO SHIFT FROM NORTH TO
NORTHEASTERLY TONIGHT AS UPPER HIGH MOVES INTO SOUTHERN NV. AIRMASS
OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AZ REMAINS MOIST WITH MORNING PHX RAOB SHOWING A
LITTLE UNDER 2 INCHES OF P WATER...ONLY SLIGHT LESS THAN FRI. THUS
THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT IN SOUTH CENTRAL AZ
AS ACTIVITY NOW OVER AND IN VICINITY OF THE RIM REGION MAY MOVE DOWN
INTO SOUTH CENTRAL AZ THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT AS THE FLOW BECOMES
NORTHEASTERLY. IN ADDITION...THERE IS A VORTMAX IN VICINITY OF WHITE
MOUNTAINS TONIGHT TO ENHANCE THUNDERSTORMS TOWARD SOUTH CENTRAL AZ.
PLUS A WAVE IN NORTHERN MEXICO INTO SE AZ. WITH THE DEEP MOISTURE
OVER SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY SOME STORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL.  DRIER WESTERLY FLOW OVER SE CA TO KEEP THAT AREA MOSTLY
CLEAR TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. FLOW TO BECOME MORE EAST TO SOUTHEASTERLY
SUNDAY AS UPPER HIGH REACHES 4 CORNERS AREA. WITH MOIST AIRMASS OVER
NM...THE EAST FLOW WILL KEEP SOUTH CENTRAL AZ MOIST ALONG WITH
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. THIS MOIST EAST FLOW EXPECTED TO REACH SE
CA BY LATE SUNDAY/MONDAY FOR PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS BY MONDAY AND THEREAFTER. IN ADDITION AVN MOVES
NORTHERN MEXICAN WAVE WESTWARD ALONG AZ SOUTHERN BORDER INTO THE
NORTHERN GULF BY SUNDAY NIGHT / MONDAY. THIS ALONG WITH THE WESTWARD
PUSH OF MOISTURE WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS INTO FAR SW
AZ AND SE CA.   EXTENDED MRF SHOWS LITTLE CHANGE AS MOIST FLOW TO
REMAIN THROUGH EXTENDED PERIOD FOR PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS OVER REGION. DKS

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:12 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Maricopa

When: August 11, 4:10 PM MST
Where: Maricopa County, Mesa
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 33.417, -111.817

Severe thunderstorm wind gusts damage trees, tree limbs torn off trees.

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

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, August 2001

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: 5262349.