Name: Flood in Arizona, July 22, 2002
Start: 2002-07-22T16:30
End: 2002-07-22T17:30
Location: Arizona

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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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 FGZ wrote it up.

Law enforcement officials and fire fighters reported that flowing water in washes made several roads impassable in the Polacca and Keams area. The water receded within an hour.

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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 22, 2:30 PM MST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 2:30 PM MST, 2 hours before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
230 PM MST MON JUL 22 2002

.SYNOPSIS...MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER NORTHERN ARIZONA
THIS WEEK. LOOK FOR INCREASING SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY
BEGINNING IN THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF ARIZONA TONIGHT AND SPREADING
WESTWARD TOMORROW.

.DISCUSSION...ABUNDANT MOISTURE IS PRESENT IN THE EASTERN AND
SOUTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON. SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER THE EASTERN ZONES OF THE CWFA AND A
CIRCULATION IS EVIDENT IN THE ACTIVITY APPROACHING THE WHITE
MOUNTAINS. DRIER AIR REMAINS OVER THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN ZONES THIS
AFTERNOON...ALTHOUGH HIGH BASED CONVECTION IS SLOWLY GETTING
UNDERWAY OVER THE MOGOLLON RIM. MOISTURE IS SURGING WESTWARD AT A
GOOD PACE AND SHOULD MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL ZONES OVERNIGHT...THUS
HAVE INCLUDED SOME OVERNIGHT CHANCES OF PRECIP IN THESE LOCATIONS.
IN THE UPPER TROP (300-200 MB) THERE IS A STRONG JET STREAK MOVING
ACROSS THE AREA RESULTING IN SUBSTANTIAL INERTIAL INSTABILITY OVER
MUCH OF EASTERN ARIZONA. THIS...IN COMBINATION WITH THE LOWER
TROPOSPHERIC CYCLONIC CIRCULATION WILL PROVIDE A GOOD SETUP FOR A
MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEM (MCS) TO DEVELOP TONIGHT. THIS SHOULD
KEEP CONVECTION GOING LONG PAST SUNSET AND POSSIBLY INTO THE EARLY
MORNING HOURS. THUS...WILL HAVE SOME HIGHER OVERNIGHT POPS THAN
DAYTIME POPS IN SOME ZONES FOR TONIGHT.

MOISTURE CONTINUES TO SPREAD WESTWARD OVERNIGHT AND TOMORROW. POPS
CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER ALL ZONES WITH HIGHEST VALUES IN THE EAST
TONIGHT...SPREADING INTO THE CENTRAL ZONES TOMORROW AND WEDNESDAY.
AS THE MAIN MOISTURE SURGE MOVES ACROSS THE REGION BY WEDNESDAY...
CHANCES OF SHOWERS WILL DECREASE SLIGHTLY FOR THURSDAY.

.EXTENDED...WESTERLY FLOW REASSERTS ITSELF TOWARDS THE END OF THE
WEEK AND THIS SHOULD BEGIN TO SCOUR OUT THE MOISTURE IN THE
MIDLEVELS FIRST...THEN WORKING ITS WAY DOWN INTO THE BOUNDARY LAYER.
THUS...EXPECT CHANCES FOR SHOWERS TO DIMINISH IN THE EXTENDED.
STILL...ENOUGH MOISTURE REMAINS SO THAT THERE IS A CHANCE OF SHOWERS
MOST ZONES EACH DAY.  DB

.FGZ...NONE

.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

CITY             TEMPERATURES LO/HI           PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
                 TON TUE   WED     THU        TON TUE   WED     THU
FLAGSTAFF        052/079 051/079 053/078      030 050 030 060 030 050
WINSLOW          063/089 064/091 064/090      030 040 030 050 030 040
PRESCOTT         063/088 061/087 064/086      010 030 020 050 030 050
PAGE             073/096 072/096 072/095      010 030 020 040 020 040
WINDOW ROCK      052/078 053/080 054/079      050 070 040 060 030 050
CANYON DE CHELLY 058/084 059/086 060/085      040 060 030 050 020 040
COTTONWOOD       071/099 069/098 072/097      010 020 020 040 020 040
GRAND CANYON     051/081 050/081 052/080      010 040 020 050 020 040
GREER            048/075 047/075 049/074      050 070 030 060 030 060
HEBER            053/084 052/084 054/083      040 070 030 060 030 060
JACOB LAKE       052/077 051/077 053/076      010 040 020 050 020 040
NAVAJO N.M.      056/078 057/080 058/079      040 060 030 050 020 040
PAYSON           064/093 062/092 065/091      030 050 030 050 030 050
SEDONA           069/097 067/096 070/095      020 040 020 050 020 040
SELIGMAN         056/091 054/090 057/089      010 020 010 040 020 040
SHOW LOW         060/085 059/085 061/084      040 060 030 060 030 050
ST. JOHNS        058/083 059/085 059/084      050 060 040 060 030 050
WUPATKI N.M.     066/091 067/093 067/092      020 040 030 050 030 040

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Navajo

When: July 22, 4:30 PM MST to 5:30 PM MST
Where: Navajo County, Polacca
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.400, -110.321 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, July 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: 5311291.