1 heavy rain, 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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 4, 9:45 AM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-042245- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 945 AM MST WED DEC 4 2002 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE MOVING IN FROM THE WEST WILL BRING FAIR WEATHER AND WARMER DAYTIME TEMPERATURES TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY ACROSS SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA. THEN...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA SATURDAY...JUST BRUSHING SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVER HIGHER TERRAIN TO THE EAST OF PHOENIX. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A WEAK HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM SUNDAY...BRINGING MORE FAIR WEATHER AND SLIGHT WARMING. ANOTHER FAST-MOVING LOW PRESSURE DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION MONDAY AND TUESDAY...BRINGING SOME COOLING AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. .DISCUSSION... UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE ALONG THE W COAST WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THE NEXT FEW DAYS...WITH A DRY FLOW ALOFT. NEXT DISTURBANCE SLATED TO MOVE ACROSS SE CA AND AZ FRI NIGHT THRU SAT NIGHT...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVER AT LEAST THE FAR ERN PORTION OF THE CWA IN SRN GILA COUNTY. THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BRING SOME COOLING TO THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. 12Z GFS IS DEEPER WITH THIS SYSTEM OVER AZ THAN WAS PREVIOUS 06Z GFS. RIDGING FOLLOWS ON SUN AND MON WITH SLIGHT WARMING AND NEAR CLEAR SKIES. ANOTHER DISTURBANCE EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA IN THE MON-TUE TIME FRAME...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. THIS SYSTEM IS BEING HANDLED SOMEWHAT DIFFERENTLY BY EACH MODEL. YESTERDAY...GFS WAS STRONGEST...WHILE IT IS NOW IN BETWEEN THE STRONGEST AND FARTHEST S SOLUTION OF THE ECMWF AND THE STRONGER-THAN-YESTERDAY SOLUTION OF UKMET. CANADIAN IS A LOT LIKE THE UKMET...WHILE THE ENSEMBLE MEANS ARE WEAKEST OF ALL. MAY HAVE TO BACK OUT OF THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS FORECAST WE PUT IN PLACE YESTERDAY...OR MAYBE NOT. WITH 12Z GFS SHOWING A DEEPER SYSTEM THIS COMING WEEKEND...PERHAPS WE WILL SEE A STRONGER SOLUTION FOR THE FOLLOWING SYSTEM AGAIN. WILT .PSR...NONE.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-050100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 600 AM MST WED DEC 4 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Rain showers and isolated thunderstorms resulted in some street flooding through parts of the East Valley. The sudden rain may have contributed to vehicle accidents. One of the heaviest amounts was 1.22 inches in about an hour.
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, December 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: 5321126.