Flash Flood in Arizona, August 29 to 30, 2001

Name: Flash Flood in Arizona, August 29 to 30, 2001
Start: 2001-08-29T22:00
End: 2001-08-30T09:00
Location: Arizona

August 29 to 30, 2001 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy precipitation from a thunderstorm near Vail caused the Pantano Wash to rise 6 feet in less than a hour. At 2330 MST, rapidly rising and moving water reached Harrison Road in southwest Tucson.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $4,000
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.

Heavy precipitation from a thunderstorm near Vail caused the Pantano Wash to rise 6 feet in less than a hour. At 2330 MST, rapidly rising and moving water reached Harrison Road in southwest Tucson. Harrison Road was flooded with a foot to a foot and a half deep. Around this time, there was a swift water rescue in which a driver was trapped in her car. Rescuers had to smash the window to get the driver out and the car was carried downstream by the rapidly flowing water. Rain gages near Cienga creek and Interstate 10 indicated 2.32 inches of rain had fallen and the rain gage near Vail and Pantano wash received 1.85 inches. Several roads were also closed near Clossal cave which received 2.86 inches of rain in one and a half hours. On the following morning at 0900 MST, water from the Pantano wash flowed into the Rillito wash closing two roads on the northwest side of Tucson.

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 Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 29, 9:20 PM MST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 9:20 PM MST, 40 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
920 PM MST WED AUG 29 2001

.SYNOPSIS...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
TONIGHT AS WEAK LOW PRESSURE MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. THUNDERSTORMS
ARE EXPECTED TO BE MORE ISOLATED AND CONCENTRATED NEAR THE
MOUNTAINS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND...A MOIST
SOUTHERLY FLOW SHOULD DEVELOP AS HIGH PRESSURE FORMS TO THE EAST OF
ARIZONA. THIS WILL KEEP THE RISK OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE PICTURE
THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...NUMEROUS TSTMS FROM TUS EAST THIS EVENING. MANY
REPORTS OF SMALL HAIL FROM THE STRONGER TSTMS ALONG WITH HEAVY
RAINS. TSTMS FORMED WESTWARD ON OUTFLOWS BUT GENERAL STORM
MOTION WAS SOUTHEAST WITH UPPER FLOW. CLOUD TOPS HAVE BEEN WARMING
RAPIDLY THE LAST HOUR AND TSTMS WEAKENING OVER MOST OF THE AREA.
FROM TUS EAST AREA HAS HAD GOOD WIDESPREAD RAINS SO EXPECT LITTLE
MORE OVERNIGHT. MAY SEE SOME DVLPMENT TUS WEST FROM OUTFLOWS.
WILL ADJUST ZONES TO REFLECT SOME TEMP CHANGES AND CURRENT TRENDS.

.TWC...NONE.

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Pima

When: August 29, 10:00 PM MST to August 30, 9:00 AM MST
Where: Pima County, Vail
Property damage: $4,000
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 32.097, -111.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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: 5259997.