1 flood, 1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Mar 6, 9:15 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-071045- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 915 PM MST TUE MAR 6 2001 .SYNOPSIS... AN INTENSE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OFFSHORE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL MOVE INLAND TONIGHT...OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...THEN ACROSS SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA WEDNESDAY. AS A RESULT...THERE WILL BE SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE AREA TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING...WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE. IT WILL BE MUCH COOLER IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA WEDNESDAY. IMPROVED WEATHER WITH SOMEWHAT WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL FOLLOW THURSDAY AS HIGHER PRESSURE MOVES IN. HOWEVER...ANOTHER PACIFIC STORM WILL LIKELY BRING A NEW ROUND OF SHOWERS TO THE AREA OVER THE WEEKEND. .DISCUSSION... ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE NORTHERN HALF OF MARICOPA AND SOUTHERN GILA COUNTIES BETWEEN 2 AM AND 1 PM WEDNESDAY WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY... A STRONG UPPER LOW...CENTERED ABOUT 150 MILES WEST OF SAN DIEGO AT 03Z...HAS STARTED TO MOVE INLAND. 500/300 MB PLOTS SHOWED A VERY STRONG DIFLUENT/DYNAMICAL SIGNATURE WITH THIS SYSTEM OVER SOUTHEAST CA/SOUTHWEST AZ...WHICH SHOULD BECOME ENHANCED AS IT MOVES INTO SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. ADDITIONALLY... A PLUME OF RELATIVELY HIGH LOWER TROP MOISTURE HAS BEEN FLOWING FROM THE PACIFIC ACROSS BAJA...AND INTO SOUTHWEST AZ THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS. STRONG DYNAMICS HAVE LEAD TO ABOUT AN INCH OF RAIN IN THE YUMA AREA SINCE 00Z WED. SPECIAL WEATHER BALLOON RELEASE AT PHOENIX SHOWED NEARLY 3/4 OF AN INCH OF PRECIPITABLE WATER (WHICH INFERS HIGHER AMOUNTS OVER SOUTHWEST AZ)...WITH 20 TO 40 KNOT SOUTHERLY WINDS BELOW 9 THSD FEET. HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER COUPLED WITH GOOD UPSLOPE WINDS AND DYNAMICS WILL LEAD TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON OVER THE MOUNTAINS NORTH OF PHOENIX... AND OVER SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY. THEREFORE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY FOR THE NORTHERN HALF OF MARICOPA AND SOUTHERN GILA COUNTIES AS A PRECAUTION. THE AVN MODEL WHICH SEEMED TO BE INITIALIZED WELL...SLOWLY MOVES THE UPPER LOW ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...WITH STRONG DYNAMICS DIMINISHING SOMEWHAT LATE IN THE DAY. CURRENT FORECASTS WHICH HIT THE RAINFALL HARD TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY LOOK OK. THE ONLY ADDITION IS THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH. VASQUEZ
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:02 UTC.
1 flood, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain over much of south central Arizona left washes running and streets flooded or closed. More than 2 inches of rain fell in and around Wickenburg. One to 2 inches fell over much of the Phoenix area.Air traffic was slowed at Sky Harbor airport as about 300 planes were delayed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, March 2001
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: 5235039, 5235040.