Name: Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 17, 2001
Start: 2001-07-17T16:15
End: 2001-07-17T16:15
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

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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 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 Jul 17, 3:35 PM MST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 3:35 PM MST, 40 minutes before

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-180545-

SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
335 PM MST TUE JUL 17 2001

.SYNOPSIS...
ARIZONA REMAINS BETWEEN LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE WEST COAST AND A HIGH
PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE GREAT PLAINS. A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FROM
NORTHWEST MEXICO MOVING NORTH MEANS SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA TONIGHT...WITH SOME CLOUDS
SPREADING OVER SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. DRIER AIR
FROM THE SOUTHWEST IS EXPECTED TO DECREASE THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA BY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.

.DISCUSSION...
AN INCREASE IN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS TAKING PLACE IN
SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA EARLIER THAN EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON. A
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WAS ISSUED EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON TO COVER
THE POSSIBILITY OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT. A WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN NORTHWEST MEXICO MOVING NORTH
IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS INCREASE IN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HAVE
WORDED THE FORECAST WITH MAINLY EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN
SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...BUT THERE IS STILL A POSSIBILITY OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS AT LEAST OVERNIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AS THE LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM CONTINUES APPROACHING FROM THE SOUTH. DRIER AIR FROM
THE SOUTHWEST IS EXPECTED TO DECREASE THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA BY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.
BEYOND THAT...THERE COULD BE AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE AGAIN. HOWEVER
...WITH SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY IN TIMING OF DRY AIR VERSES MORE HUMID
AIR...HAVE CONTINUED SAME IDEA AS PREVIOUS FORECASTER FOR THE
EXTENDED FORECAST...THAT IS A BROAD BRUSH OF MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES FOR
SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA...AND PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES
FOR SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA WITH A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN.

ELLIS

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 17, 1:37 PM MST, 2 hours 38 minutes before

AZZ022>024-027-028-180700-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
137 PM MST TUE JUL 17 2001

...ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL
ARIZONA LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT...

COUNTIES IN THE RISK AREA INCLUDE:
     IN ARIZONA...MARICOPA...NORTHWEST PINAL...AND SOUTHERN GILA.

THE PRIMARY HAZARDOUS WEATHER RISKS INCLUDE:
     LOW VISIBILITIES DUE TO BLOWING DUST...GUSTY WINDS UP< TO 50 MPH
     ...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY LATE THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH TONIGHT.

CRAIG ELLIS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Maricopa

When: July 17, 4:15 PM MST
Where: Maricopa County, Scottsdale
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 33.483, -111.900

Large tree downed power pole snapped by thunderstorm winds.

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, July 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: 5257931.