Drought in Arizona, April 1 to 30, 2002

Name: Drought in Arizona, April 1 to 30, 2002
Start: 2002-04-01T00:00
End: 2002-04-30T23:59
Location: Arizona

April 1 to 30, 2002 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Drought conditions continued through out the month of April. 29).

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 happened

The episode as NWS FGZ wrote it up.

Drought conditions continued through out the month of April. Just over half of an inch (0.51) of rain fell early in the month which was 0.78 inches below normal (1.29). For the year, 1.22 inches of precipitation fell which is 7.43 inches below the normal of 8.65 inches. From September first to the end of April, 4.71 inches of precipitation fell which was 11.68 inches below the normal of 16.39 inches.

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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 31, 8:00 PM MST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 8:00 PM MST, 4 hours before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
800 PM MST SUN MAR 31 2002

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING WARM AND GENERALLY
DRY WEATHER TO NORTHERN ARIZONA THROUGH MUCH OF THE COMING WEEK.
HOWEVER...SOME MOISTURE WILL RESULT IN AFTERNOON CLOUDS OVER THE
MOUNTAINS WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A DRY THUNDERSTORM OR TWO.

.DISCUSSION...STRONG UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE ALONG THE
WEST COAST. A WEAK TROUGH THAT HAS BEEN MOVING EASTWARD WITH THE
SUBTROPICAL JET WAS LOCATED JUST OFFSHORE THIS EVENING. THIS TROUGH
HAS ADVECTED SOME LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE NORTHWARD AND SOME HIGH-BASED
SHOWERS MANAGED TO DEVELOP OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. MODELS HAVE
HANDLED THE EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF THIS TROUGH POORLY AND DID NOT
EVEN PICK IT UP UNTIL YESTERDAY...EVEN THOUGH IT HAD BEEN NOTED DAYS
EARLIER IN THE WV IMAGERY. HAVE LITTLE CONFIDENCE IN MODEL SOLUTION
THAT THIS FEATURE WILL REMAIN OFF BAJA FOR A FEW DAYS. INSTEAD...
BELIEVE THIS FEATURE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SLOWLY EASTWARD AND CUT
OFF THE FLOW OF LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE INTO ARIZONA. WITH WEAK FLOW
ALOFT...MOISTURE ALREADY IN PLACE WILL REMAIN AND THERE WILL BE A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF HIGH-BASED AND DRY THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE NEXT DAY
OR TWO.

RECORD TEMPERATURES AGAIN ON TAP FOR MONDAY AND HAVE MADE SOME
ADJUSTMENTS IN HEADLINES FOR A FEW ZONES.  DB

.FGZ...NONE.

.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

CITY             TEMPERATURES LO/HI           PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
                 TON MON   TUE     WED        TON MON   TUE     WED
FLAGSTAFF        029/069 030/067 030/065      000 000 000 000 000 000
WINSLOW          036/077 037/077 037/075      000 000 000 000 000 000
PRESCOTT         038/076 039/074 039/072      000 000 000 000 000 000
PAGE             051/078 052/077 052/075      000 000 000 000 000 000
WINDOW ROCK      024/070 027/069 027/067      000 000 000 000 000 000
CANYON DE CHELLY 034/074 037/073 037/071      000 000 000 000 000 000
COTTONWOOD       045/084 046/082 046/080      000 000 000 000 000 000
GRAND CANYON     031/073 032/071 032/069      000 000 000 000 000 000
GREER            028/069 029/067 029/065      000 000 000 000 000 000
HEBER            030/077 031/075 031/073      000 000 000 000 000 000
JACOB LAKE       029/064 030/062 030/060      000 000 000 000 000 000
NAVAJO N.M.      028/068 031/067 031/065      000 000 000 000 000 000
PAYSON           038/079 039/077 039/075      000 000 000 000 000 000
SEDONA           044/083 045/081 045/079      000 000 000 000 000 000
SELIGMAN         030/078 031/076 031/074      000 000 000 000 000 000
SHOW LOW         037/079 038/077 038/075      000 000 000 000 000 000
ST. JOHNS        033/075 034/075 034/073      000 000 000 000 000 000
WUPATKI N.M.     041/077 042/077 042/075      000 000 000 000 000 000

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Western Mogollon Rim

When: April 1, 12:00 AM MST to April 30, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Western Mogollon Rim forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 35.839, -111.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arizona in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, April 2002

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: 5291360.