1 dust storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 15, 2:25 PM MST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
225 PM MST THU AUG 15 2002
.SYNOPSIS...EXPECT WARM TEMPERATURES TO PERSIST THROUGH THE
WEEKEND...TURNING GRADUALLY COOLER AS THE NEW WEEK BEGINS. A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
LINGER THROUGH FRIDAY MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM AND
WHITE MOUNTAINS.
.DISCUSSION...IN THE NEAR TERM...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER NORTHERN
ARIZONA WILL LINGER INTO THE EVENING HOURS...PRIMARILY ALONG THE
MOGOLLON RIM AND OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS...AS UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE
SUBSIDES. WITH UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE MAINTAINING ITS
HOLD...MOISTURE SLOWLY DIMINISHING...AND LACK OF AN EFFECTIVE
TRIGGER...LOOK FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO DECREASE TOMORROW AND
ALMOST DISAPPEAR ON SATURDAY. OVER THE WEEKEND...RIDGING WILL
REORIENT ITSELF WITH A LENGTHY AXIS FROM WEST OF SAN DIEGO EASTWARD
TO THE GULF COAST STATES. WITH ZONAL FLOW OR BROAD TROUGHING NORTH
OF THE RIDGE BEING TOO WEAK TO BREAK IT UP...EXPECT LITTLE IN THE
WAY OF INCREASING MOISTURE.
FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD...EARLY NEXT WEEK...SHORT WAVE IMPULSES WILL
BEGIN CHIPPING AWAY AT THE RIDGE...BEGINNING TO WEAKEN IT OVER
WESTERN ARIZONA. THIS...PAIRED WITH THE APPROACH OF A DEEP WESTERN
TROUGH BEGINNING ON TUESDAY...WILL GIVE THE STATE ITS NEXT CHANCE AT
MONSOONAL MOISTURE.
HOWARD
.FGZ...NONE.
.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA
CITY TEMPERATURES LO/HI PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
TON FRI SAT SUN TON FRI SAT SUN
FLAGSTAFF 052/086 051/084 050/084 020 020 000 020 000 000
WINSLOW 064/097 063/095 062/095 000 000 000 000 000 000
PRESCOTT 063/092 062/091 061/091 020 020 000 000 000 000
PAGE 071/099 070/098 070/097 000 000 000 000 000 000
WINDOW ROCK 043/088 045/087 045/087 000 000 000 000 000 000
CANYON DE CHELLY 051/094 053/093 053/093 000 000 000 000 000 000
COTTONWOOD 071/103 070/102 069/102 020 020 000 000 000 000
GRAND CANYON 048/089 047/087 046/086 020 020 000 020 000 000
GREER 049/081 048/079 047/079 020 020 000 020 000 000
HEBER 054/091 053/089 052/089 020 020 000 020 000 000
JACOB LAKE 052/084 051/082 050/082 020 020 000 020 000 000
NAVAJO N.M. 048/088 050/087 050/087 000 000 000 000 000 000
PAYSON 064/096 063/095 062/095 020 020 000 000 000 000
SEDONA 069/100 068/099 067/099 020 020 000 000 000 000
SELIGMAN 056/095 055/094 054/094 010 010 000 000 000 000
SHOW LOW 060/091 059/089 058/089 010 010 000 010 000 000
ST. JOHNS 059/092 058/090 057/090 000 000 000 000 000 000
WUPATKI N.M. 065/099 064/097 063/097 000 000 000 000 000 000The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A dust storm with one quarter mile visibility and 50 MPH wind was reported on I-40 near Meteor City.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, August 2002
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: 5317784.