Lightning Strike in Arizona, January 27, 2001

Name: Lightning Strike in Arizona, January 27, 2001
Start: 2001-01-27T16:20
End: 2001-01-27T18:30
Location: Arizona

January 27, 2001 · NWS PSR · 3 events in 1 county or zone

2 funnel cloud, 1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 3

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 Jan 27, 2:45 PM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 27, 2:45 PM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-280545-

SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
245 PM MST SAT JAN 27 2001

CORRECTED FOR EXPIRATION DATA

.SYNOPSIS...
A RATHER STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BRING SHOWERS...BREEZES AND
COOLER TEMPERATURES TO SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA
THROUGH SUNDAY. THE SNOW LEVEL IS EXPECTED TO LOWER TO AROUND 3000
FEET TONIGHT. SHOWERY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT...TAPERING OFF
DURING THE DAY SUNDAY AS THE LOW MOVES EASTWARD...OUT OF ARIZONA
SUNDAY NIGHT. A FAST-MOVING WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL BRING ANOTHER
POSSIBILITY OF SHOWERS TO SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA TUESDAY...BUT HIGHER
PRESSURE AND WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL PREVAIL THE REST OF THE WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...
LOW ACTING ABOUT AS WE THOUGHT. REGIME HAS BECOME SHOWERY...WITH A
FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES E AND SE OF THE LOW CENTER. KEEPING THE SAME
FORECAST TREND GOING...BUT RAISING THE POP OVER THE ERN CWA FOR SUN
NIGHT AS VORT SPOKE EXPECTED TO ROTATE THRU THAT AREA. NEXT SYSTEM...
EXPECTED TUE/TUE NIGHT...LOOKS LESS FORMIDABLE ON THE 12Z AVN THAN
ON THE 00Z MRF...AND IT DOES NOT LINGER QUITE AS LONG. LEFT CHANCE
OF SHOWERS IN THE ERN CWA...WITH PARTLY CLOUDY ELSEWHERE...FOR TUE
...WITH THE CHANCE LINGERING WED IN AZ ZONE 24. LINGERING ASPECT
THOUGHT TO BE MAINLY FOR EARLY WED. WITH THE SYSTEM LOOKING WEAKER
AND THE SURFACE GRADIENT LESS...DID NOT KEEP THE WINDY ASPECT OF THE
FORECAST FOR SUCH A WIDE AREA TUE AND WED. RATHER...KEPT IT MOSTLY
IN THE WRN PORTION OF THE CWA. WARMING TREND IN THE EXTENDED PER
GUIDANCE. INCREASING CLOUDS SAT CWA WIDE AS ANOTHER DISTURBANCE
BEGINS TO AFFECT THE AREA. REISSUED A HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR THIS
EVENING...UNTIL MIDNIGHT...FOR ELEVATIONS AT AND ABOVE 3500 FEET IN
AZ ZONE 24.  WILT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 funnel cloud, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Maricopa

When: January 27, 4:20 PM MST
Where: Maricopa County, Wittmann
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 33.349, -112.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel Cloud, Maricopa

When: January 27, 4:34 PM MST
Where: Maricopa County, Goodyear
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 33.349, -112.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Maricopa

When: January 27, 6:30 PM MST
Where: Maricopa County, Sun City
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.349, -112.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck the roof of a store at 107th and Grand, resulting in a fire that damaged much of the store.

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, January 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: 5227958, 5227959, 5227960.