Hail, Cochise
- When
- August 16, 1:24 PM MST to 1:30 PM MST
- Where
- Cochise County, (Fhu)ft Huachuca Afb
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
- Coordinates
- 31.583, -110.350
Hail in Arizona, August 16, 2002
Severe thunderstorm moved southeast at 10 mph across the city of Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca. Fort Huachuca reported hail size of three quarters of an inch in diameter and 30 mph wind gusts at 124 pm MST.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
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 TWC wrote it up.
Severe thunderstorm moved southeast at 10 mph across the city of Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca. Fort Huachuca reported hail size of three quarters of an inch in diameter and 30 mph wind gusts at 124 pm MST.
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 Aug 16, 9:30 AM MST, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 9:30 AM MST, 3 hours 54 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 930 AM MST FRI AUG 16 2002 .SYNOPSIS...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AND WITH AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER THE STATE THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE BOTH TODAY AND SATURDAY...WITH TYPICAL MONSOON THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY THROUGH NEXT WEEK. .DISCUSSION...THE NORTHWEST FLOW IS GONE...AND THE SURGE CONTINUES. THAT NORTHWEST FLOW WAS A MAJOR STOPPER TO ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY EARLY IN THE WEEK BECAUSE WE KEPT MIXING DRY AIR INTO THE SURGE LAYER WITH A SUBSEQUENT LOWERING OF BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE DURING THE AFTERNOON. YESTERDAY AFTERNOON THE WINDS BEGAN TO RELAX AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED IN THE LATE AFTERNOON. TODAY SHOULD BE BETTER...TUCSON SOUNDING LOOKS EXPLOSIVE WITH CAPE OVER 3000 IF WE CAN REACH MAX TEMPERATURE...SURFACE DEW POINT TEMPERATURES ARE UP 3 TO 5F ACROSS MOST OF THE LOW DESERTS...WITH MODERATE CUMULUS ALREADY DEVELOPING ON OUR MOUNTAINS. ALOFT...TEMPERATURES ARE COLD IN THE MID LEVELS WITH AN UPPER LOW OVER AJO AREA DRIFTING TO THE SOUTH OR SOUTHWEST. A SPEED MAX IS ROTATING AROUND THE BACKSIDE OF THE TROF AND SHOULD BE IN THE BASE OF THE TROF TONIGHT PROVIDING US WITH SOME LEFT FRONT QUAD ACTION. STEERING FLOW IS WEEK BUT MOTION SHOULD PUSH STORMS NORTHWEST. OVER IN EASTERN ZONES MOISTURE IS MUCH LOWER AND ACTIVITY MAY STILL HANG NEAR MOUNTAINS.. TWC...NONE.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 16, 11:30 AM MST, 1 hour 54 minutes before
AZZ019-029>035-170700- SOUTHEAST ARIZONA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 1130 AM MST FRI AUG 16 2002 .SYNOPSIS...THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONTINUES TO MOVE INTO THE LOW DESERTS WHILE THE MID LEVELS CONTINUE TO REMAIN DRY. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL ENHANCE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA TODAY AND INCREASE THE CHANCE OF SEVERITY. .DISCUSSION...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW IN ADDITION TO LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FROM A GULF SURGE WILL ENHANCE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IN PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. THE LOW LEVELS CONTINUE TO BE WELL SATURATED WITH MOISTURE WHILE THE MID LEVELS CONTINUE TO BE DRY. THE UPPER LEVEL SOUNDING FROM TUCSON THIS MORNING GAVE A PRECIPITABLE WATER OF 1.20 INCHES AND WITH STRONG HEATING...THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS HIGHER THAN CLIMATOLOGY. WHILE THE STRONGEST STORMS ARE EXPECTED IN EASTERN AND CENTRAL PIMA...WESTERN AND SOUTHERN COCHISE...AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES... DRY AIR AT ALL LEVELS IN WESTERN PIMA...GREENLEE...AND GRAHAM COUNTIES WILL LIMIT THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY. MOVEMENT OF STORMS WILL BE NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH. THEREFORE STORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN IN THE VALLEY LOCATIONS TODAY...THEREFORE THE POTENTIAL FOR ONE INCH RAIN IS ABOVE CLIMATOLOGY.
The radar
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:23 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Wind in Washington, August 16, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Minnesota, August 16, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 16, 2002
- High Wind in Iowa, August 16 to 17, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 16 to 17, 2002
- Hail in Nebraska, August 16, 2002
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in New York, August 16, 2002
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in New Hampshire, August 16, 2002
- High Wind in Iowa, August 16, 2002
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, August 16, 2002
- Wildfire in Washington, August 16 to 20, 2002
- Lightning Strike in New York, August 16, 2002
More
Every storm in Arizona in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, August 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: 5312812.