3 thunderstorm wind, 1 dust storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Jul 14, 3:27 PM MST, 3 hours 53 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-150545- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 327 PM MST SUN JUL 14 2002 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE AS THE MAIN WEATHER FEATURE OVER SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS... BUT IT IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN A BIT DAY-TO-DAY. MARGINAL LEVELS OF MONSOON MOISTURE WILL BE AFFECTING THE REGION...PROVIDING A THREAT OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CENTRAL ARIZONA MOUNTAINS...WITH STORMS DRIFTING INTO THE SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA DESERTS DURING THE EVENING. SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA HAVE A LESSER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THAN SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. .DISCUSSION... STEERING FLOW REMAINS SOMEWHAT OFF THE HIGH COUNTRY INTO THE S-CNTRL AZ DESERTS FOR TONIGHT...WITH SOME STORMS EXPECTED TO DRIFT OVER THE LOWER DESERTS OVERNIGHT. MOST ACTIVE AREA...WITH DYNAMICS AT PLAY... WILL BE IN THE SERN PART OF THE STATE WHERE A VORT MAX IS AFFECTING THE AREA. SEVERE TSTM WATCH BOX HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THAT AREA. THE STORMS FIRED FIRST OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS TODAY...WHEREAS YESTERDAY THEY BEGAN MORE ON THE CENTRAL AND WRN RIM AREA. RUC SUGGESTS THE FLOW IS VARYING BETWEEN ELY AND SELY AT 500 MB STEERING LEVEL THIS AFTERNOON. AVN SEEMS TO CONTINUE TO EXAGGERATE THE IMPULSES ROTATING AROUND THE HIGH...AND SUGGESTS A CLOSED LOW AND A QPF BULLSEYE OVER SWRN NM THIS EVENING...WHILE THE ETA HAS A MODEST VORT MAX OVER SE AZ...WHICH APPEARS TO BE MORE IN LINE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING. WE STILL HAVE NOT HAD A GOOD SURGE OF LOWER-LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE DESERTS...ALTHOUGH THE SLY WIND WAS DEEPER OVERNIGHT AT KYUX THAN IT HAS BEEN...ABOUT 4K FT. LACK OF A GOOD SURGE...PLUS A TENDENCY FOR SOME DRYING UPSTREAM...HAS LED TO LESS THAN OPTIMAL COVERAGE OVER THE MOUNTAINS. OPTED OUT OF THE WATCH BOX AREA...BUT IT IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION THAT WE COULD HAVE A SEVERE WIND EVENT SOMEWHAERE IN THE ERN PORTION OF THE CWA. I MENTIONED THIS TO SPC...BUT DID NOT FEEL IT MERITED BEING IN A WATCH BOX WHICH WOULD COVER MORE AREA THAN I WANTED. BIG HIGH TO THE N HAS LOST ABOUT 60 OR 70 METERS OFF ITS PEAK HEIGHT AND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO SLOWLY WEAKEN. THIS SHOULD HELP BRING TEMPS DOWN A BIT...AND WILL DO LESS FOR MONSOON CIRCULATION. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED...A BROADBRUSH APPROACH TO THE FORECAST STILL SEEMS THE BEST WAY TO GO. DECIDED NOT TO ISSUE A HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK TODAY...SINCE MY CONFIDENCE IS LACKING IN PINPOINTING AN EVENT OR LOCATION. WILT .PSR...NONE.
AZZ022>024-027-028-150200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 509 PM MST SUN JUL 14 2002 ...HAZARDOUS WEATHER POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS EVENING... COUNTIES IN THE RISK AREA INCLUDE...MARICOPA...NORTHWEST PINAL... AND SOUTHERN GILA. THE PRIMARY HAZARDOUS WEATHER RISKS INCLUDE: THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG AND DAMAGING WINDS OVER 50 MPH. BLOWING DUST ASSOCIATED WITH THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW COULD LOWER VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN ONE- QUARTER MILE OVER PORTIONS OF THE LOWER SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA DESERT. ADDITIONAL THREATS INCLUDE: INTENSE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF SOUTHERN GILA AND NORTH-CENTRAL PINAL COUNTIES. STORM MOVEMENT WILL BE TOWARD THE WEST AT 10 TO 15 MPH. THE PHOENIX METROPOLITAN AREA IS INCLUDED IN THE OUTLOOK...BUT MAINLY AFTER 7 PM. STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY THIS EVENING.
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:18 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Near zero visibility with blowing dust and sand spread across a wde area of northwest Pinal County. Southerly winds reached as high as 45 to 50 mph.
The first of two microburst events occurred on the airport at 1300 Airlane Blvd.
The second of two microburst events struck on the airport at the Postal facility and the West economy parking lot. A large thunderstorm complex, with strong microburst winds estimated at 100 mph struck Sky Harbor International Airport. Southerly winds and dense blowing dust initially spread across the East valley and converged with a fast-moving thunderstorm in North Phoenix. These merging systems developed into a severe thunderstorm with winds that uprooted trees, took down power poles and damaged homes and businesses near the airport. Several hangars sustained major damage. Flying debris damaged five commercial aircraft, several private planes and hundreds of cars in the nearby parking lots. Numerous flights were diverted during the overnight hours due to the debris that was scattered on the runway.
Microburst winds heavily damaged the Arizona Public Service power sub-station at 7th Ave and Thomas. Widespread damage was reported across the greater Phoenix metropolitan area caused by the storm's high winds and heavy rainfall with up to 2 inches in 90 minutes. Utility companies reported that 22 power poles were downed, leaving at least 47,000 homes and businesses without power electricity for many hours. Homes in Scottsdale and Ahwatukee were struck by lightning and set on fire.
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, July 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: 5303624, 5303690, 5303689, 5303691.