2 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 May 18, 3:15 PM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-190545- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 315 PM MST FRI MAY 18 2001 .SYNOPSIS... A COUPLE OF PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEMS ARE FORECAST TO MOVE INTO ARIZONA TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA TONIGHT...AND ESPECIALLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. HIGH PRESSURE IS FORECAST TO REBUILD OVER ARIZONA SUNDAY AND MONDAY FOR MORE STABLE AND WARMER WEATHER...WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THE NEXT WORK WEEK. .DISCUSSION... SUBTROPICAL LOW BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON BUT MAIN ACTION IS WITH SHORT WAVE NEVADA AND UTAH...EVEN SOME THUNDERSTOMS FIRING OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA IN CALIFORNIA. MOISTURE INCREASE ALONG WITH GOOD UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE WILL PROVIDE PRECIP THREAT TONIGHT FOR EASTERN CWA. TOMORROW...SUBTROPICAL LOW MINORS OUT AND EJECTS NORTHEASTWARD AND TEMPERATURE PROFILES BECOME MORE UNSTABLE. THIS COMBINED WITH MORE MOIST AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE THE STORM THREAT SATURDAY...TRAILING OFF SATURDAY NIGHT. SHORT WAVE ENERGY ROTATING THROUGH THE TROUGH IS PROGGED TO MOSTLY MISS OUR CWA. BAGGY TROUGH WILL LEAVE THE AREA SUNDAY AS RIDGE BUILDS IN. IN THE EXTENDED...MRF/UKMET SHOW RIDGE SLOWLY MOVING ACROSS THE WESTERN STATES WITH TROUGH MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN STATES. ECMWF IS QUITE DIFFERENT AND DEPICTS TROUGHING OVER THE WEST FOR THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK. MEANWHILE...RESIDUAL TROUGH OR CIRCULATION LIES OVER NORTHWEST MEXICO. BY TUESDAY...BACKDOOR FRONT MIGHT PROVIDE ENOUGH MOISTURE TO MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN ARIZONA TO PRODUCE t THUNDERSTORMS...BUT NOT NEAR ENOUGH CERTAINTY TO MENTION THREAT FOR ZONE 24. OTHERWISE...EXTENDED WARM AND DRY. JAMISON
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:29 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds took down 3 power poles about 5 miles east of Tonopah. Power was out for about 2 days in a 30 mile radius.
Winds damaged shingles, flipped a heavy table, and reduced visibility to near zero.
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, May 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: 5242029, 5242030.