Dust Storm in Arizona, April 6, 2002

Name: Dust Storm in Arizona, April 6, 2002
Start: 2002-04-06T13:00
End: 2002-04-06T16:00
Location: Arizona

April 6, 2002 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $40,000
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.

A Low pressure system moving through Arizona caused gradients to tighten ahead of a cold front. A dust storm resulted from the strong winds and reduced visibilities along agricultural area on Arizona state road 87 near Coolidge. The reduced visibilities caused a 26 vehicle collision which included 19 passenger cars, 2 recreational vehicles, and 5 military vehicles.

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 Apr 6, 9:10 AM MST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 6, 9:10 AM MST, 3 hours 50 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
910 AM MST SAT APR 6 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS ARIZONA TODAY
AND TONIGHT...BRINGING COOLER TEMPERATURES...BREEZY CONDITIONS AND
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. BY SUNDAY NIGHT A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE
BUILDS BACK INTO THE AREA...FOR A RETURN TO WARM TEMPERATURES AND
SUNNY SKIES. THESE MILD CONDITIONS WILL LAST THROUGH MID WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...UPPER LOW CURRENTLY LOCATED SOUTHWEST OF LAS VEGAS.
THE MODELS MOVE THIS SYSTEM INTO NORTHWEST ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON
AND INTO WEST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO BY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. MAIN BULK
OF MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE
FORECAST AREA...HOWEVER SOME EVIDENCE OF AN EARLIER SUBTROPICAL TAP
WHICH PULLED SOME MOISTURE INTO SOUTHERN ARIZONA FOR EARLY MORNING
CONVECTION. SATELLITE AND WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATE THIS AREA OF
MOISTURE NOW LIFTING THROUGH THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STATE AND
FIRING THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE RIM. OTHERWISE...DRY AIR BEGINNING TO
WRAP IN BEHIND THE SYSTEM WITH NOTICEABLE CLEARING TAKING PLACE
ALONG THE ARIZONA/MEXICO BORDER AND POINTS SOUTHWARD. 12Z KTUS
SOUNDING INDICATES GOOD COOLING THROUGHOUT ATMOSPHERE...WITH MAIN
AREA OF COOLING CENTERED AROUND 500MB. WITH MID LEVEL MOISTURE IN
PLACE... NEUTRAL TO NEGATIVE STABILITY INDICES AND GOOD COOLING
ALOFT... ISOLATED TO SLIGHT CHANCE WORDING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR
MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA LOOKS REASONABLE.

WILL UPDATE MORNING FORECAST PACKAGE TO RAISE PRECIPITATION CHANCES
OVER GRAHAM AND GREENLEE COUNTIES TODAY AND THIS EVENING. OTHERWISE
FORECAST PACKAGE LOOKS ON TRACK WITH COOLER TEMPERATURES...BREEZY
CONDITIONS AND ISOLATED CONVECTION TODAY AND THIS EVENING.  ZELL

.TWC...NONE.

Event by event

1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Storm, Southeast Pinal County

When: April 6, 1:00 PM MST to 4:00 PM MST
Where: Southeast Pinal County forecast zone
Property damage: $40,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

What these are

Dust Storm: Blowing dust that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less.

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: 5293564.