Flood in Arizona, August 14, 2001

Name: Flood in Arizona, August 14, 2001
Start: 2001-08-14T15:28
End: 2001-08-14T15:28
Location: Arizona

August 14, 2001 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Cherry Creek was flowing about 20 feet wide and washed out the road from Highway 260 to the town of Cherry.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

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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 FGZ wrote it up.

Cherry Creek was flowing about 20 feet wide and washed out the road from Highway 260 to the town of Cherry.

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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 14, 2:30 PM MST, 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 14, 2:30 PM MST, 58 minutes before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
230 PM MST TUE AUG 14 2001

.SYNOPSIS...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER YAVAPAI COUNTY
INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS...THEN WEAKEN AFTER SUNSET. DRIER AIR
WILL CONTINUE TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHERN
ARIZONA WEDNESDAY. BY THURSDAY THERE WILL BE A FEW AFTERNOON
THUNDERSTORMS STILL OVER THE EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM AND WHITE
MOUNTAINS. DRY CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST INTO THE WEEKEND WITH A
ENOUGH MOISTURE LINGERING OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS FOR A CHANCE OF
AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO
WARM...UNDER MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

.DISCUSSION...SHORT TERM...LINGERING MOISTURE OVER YAVAPAI COUNTY
WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES WILL HELP SUPPORT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. WIND
PROFILE...WITH SOUTHWEST WINDS ALOFT AND LOW TO MID-LEVEL NORTH TO
NORTHEAST WINDS WILL ALLOW SOME OF THESE STORMS TO BECOME
ORGANIZED...WITH LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. THUNDERSTORMS OVER
EASTERN SECTIONS ARE STRUGGLING IN THE DRIER AIR AND WILL WEAKEN BY
SUNSET.

A MID-LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE JUST OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
COAST WILL REMAIN TO THE WEST OF ARIZONA THROUGH SATURDAY...AS A
RESULT DRY NORTHERNLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS TIME PERIOD.
MOISTURE WILL GRADUALLY MIX EACH DAY AND PUSH SOUTH OF THE FORECAST
AREA...EXCEPT FOR THE WHITE MOUNTAINS BY FRIDAY. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
THE MID-LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE BEGINS TO MOVE EAST WITH DRY AIR OVER
MOST OF NORTHERN ARIZONA.  BY MONDAY...WITH THE HIGH PRESSURE TO
EAST THE MONSOON MOISTURE WILL BEGIN TO COME BACK INTO SOUTHERN AND
WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE AND THEN SPREADING OVER ALL OF
NORTHERN ARIZONA BY TUESDAY WITH DEEP MONSOON MOISTURE.

CLEMMONS

.FGZ...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 14, 9:30 AM MST, 5 hours 58 minutes before

AZZ004>018-037>040-141930-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
930 AM MST TUE AUG 14 2001

...FEWER YET STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS TODAY ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA...

DRIER AIR WILL BEGIN MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA TODAY BUT ENOUGH
MOISTURE WILL REMAIN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS.
STORMS WILL BE NOT AS WIDE SPREAD AS THE PAST FEW DAY...HOWEVER THE
ATMOSPHERE IS MORE UNSTABLE SO THERE WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR
STRONGER STORMS. LOCAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF AROUND 1 INCH WILL BE
COMMON WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. THERE WILL BE MORE MOISTURE AVAILABLE
ALONG AND SOUTHWEST OF THE MOGOLLON RIM INTO SOUTHERN YAVAPAI COUNTY.
A FEW STORMS THAT DEVELOP IN THIS AREA HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE
LOCAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES. IN ADDITION TO
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN THERE WILL BE A LOW THREAT FOR HAIL. THE AIR MASS
IS UNSTABLE ENOUGH FOR A FEW STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE WITH HAIL SIZE
UP TO ONE INCH. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE LOCATED OVER THE
MOGOLLON RIM...NORTHERN GILA COUNTY AND YAVAPAI COUNTY LATE THIS
MORNING AND AFTERNOON.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND LOCALLY
HEAVY RAIN FALL TODAY.

Local storm report, Aug 14, 9:57 AM MST, 5 hours 31 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF ARIZONA
0957 AM MST TUE AUG 14 2001

TIME (MST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0200 AM    SUPAI                     AZ   FLASH FLOOD
08/11/01   COCONINO                       *** 3 DEAD ***
                                          FLASH FLOOD IN REMOTE SIDE CANYON
                                          ON HAVASUPAI INDIAN RESERVATION.
                                          REPORTED BY SUPAI POLICE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Yavapai

When: August 14, 3:28 PM MST
Where: Yavapai County, Cherry
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 34.600, -112.554 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

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: 5266963.