Name: Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 5, 2001
Start: 2001-07-05T12:30
End: 2001-07-05T12:54
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: $20,000
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.

Strong winds from the thunderstorms weakened a roof on West Mossman Road on the southwest side of Tucson. At 1230 MST the roof collapsed from accumulated water and several rooms were flooded with up to 2.0 inches of water. At 1250 MST, a spotter reported peak wind gust of 70 mph using hand held anemometer on the northeast side of Tucson. He also reported pea size hail.

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 Jul 5, 9:25 AM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 9:25 AM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
925 AM MST THU JUL 5 2001

SYNOPSIS...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE FOR THE
REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE TO OUR
NORTH AND NORTHEAST WILL GUIDE DEEPER MOISTURE INTO SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA...WITH THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE AND THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAIN
INCREASING.

DISCUSSION...TSTMS CONTINUE ALONG MEX BORDER IN SOUTHWEST AZ DUE
TO TROF ON THE BAJA AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE. SHOULD SEE TSTMS
DECREASE NEXT HOUR OR SO AND SHIFT OFF TO THE NORTHWEST. MOISTURE
CONTINUES TO DEEPEN OVER THE AREA AS HIGH SHIFTS SLOWLY EAST. BY
LATER AFTERNOON WITH HEATING AND GOOD MOISTURE PROFILE ALONG WITH
STRONG UPPER DIVERGENCE SHOULD SEE MORE WIDESPREAD TSTMS. ALSO
MID/UPPER LEVEL WINDS ARE VEERING AND WEAKENING DURING THE DAY AND
TSTMS WILL BE SLOWER AND HEAVIER RAIN PRODUCERS. MODIFIED TUS
SOUNDING SHOWS VERY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE THIS AFTN. LOOK FOR AN
ACTIVE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING THRU THE ENTIRE AREA BUT BEST
TSTMS SHOULD BE FROM WESTERN COCHISE CTY TO THE WESTERN END OF THE
STATE IN BEST MOISTURE AND UPPER DIVERGENCE.

.TWC...NONE.

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 5, 12:09 PM MST, 21 minutes before

AZZ019-029>035-050700-

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1205 AM MST THU JUL 5 2001

.SYNOPSIS... A MOISTURE INFLUX FROM THE SOUTH IS HELPING INITIATE THE
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA. WITH SLOWER
WINDS ALOFT THE POTENTIAL FOR TRAINING OF STORMS AND FLASH FLOODING
HAS INCREASED.

.DISCUSSION...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SURGED INTO THE AREA WITH THE 12Z
TUS SOUNDING HAVING PWAT VALUE OF 1.47. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY
ERUPTED ACROSS WEST CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY THROUGH WESTERN COCHISE
COUNTY. TRAINING OF THESE STORMS IS LIKELY WITH THE SLOWER WINDS
ALOFT.  FLASH FLOOD THREAT WILL BE HIGHEST FROM EASTERN- PIMA COUNTY
TO CENTRAL COCHISE COUNTY. THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL ALSO BE
HIGH IN THIS SAME LOCATION.

STORM MOTION WILL BE TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

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, Pima

When: July 5, 12:30 PM MST to 12:54 PM MST
Where: Pima County, Tucson
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 32.233, -110.933

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: 5258395.