Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 25, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 25, 2002
Start: 2002-07-25T17:15
End: 2002-07-25T17:20
Location: Arizona

July 25, 2002 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm moved across the city of Benson producing damaging winds. At 515 pm MST, a spotter reported 4 power poles downed.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

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Tropical storms and surge
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Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $12,000
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.

A severe thunderstorm moved across the city of Benson producing damaging winds. At 515 pm MST, a spotter reported 4 power poles downed. Also, the roof of a Safeway store was damaged.

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 Jul 25, 2:45 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 2:45 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
245 PM MST THU JUL 25 2002

.SYNOPSIS...ENOUGH MOISTURE WILL REMAIN OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FOR
SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON TO EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

.DISCUSSION...KEMX WSR-88D INDICATED ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER
GRAHAM COUNTY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WRN/SRN
COCHISE-SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES. MOVEMENT/PROPAGATION WAS WLY AROUND 10
KTS. SKIES WERE PARTLY CLOUDY ACROSS CENTRAL/ERN SECTIONS WITH
MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES W. 21Z SURFACE MAP SHOWED DEWPOINTS IN THE MID
50S F E WITH LOWER-MID 60S F TUS-OLS CORRIDOR. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION
DETAILED ABUNDANCE OF MOISTURE ACROSS SE AZ AND APPEARS SCATTERED
MAINLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TO PREVAIL. BRIEF HEAVY RAINS WILL
OCCUR WITH CELLS HAVING THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE 1-INCH+ AMOUNTS IN
SHORT ORDER. NOTHING NECESSARILY OUT OF THE ORDINARY FOR THIS TIME
OF YEAR HOWEVER. EASTERLY WAVE OVER CHIHUAHUA PROVIDING MID/UPPER
FORCING ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHERN SECTIONS WHILE DEFORMATION AXIS
PROVIDING LIFT TO ENHANCE CONVECTION ACROSS WHITE MOUNTAINS/GRAHAM
COUNTY AREA. NWP GUIDANCE INDICATES FOUR CORNERS UPPER HIGH TO
MIGRATE EWD WITH TROUGH OVER THE GREAT BASIN REGION THIS WEEKEND.
MODELS INDICATE TO VARYING DEGREES THAT THE DEEPER MOISTURE WOULD BE
ERODED/SHUNTED EWD NEXT FEW DAYS. NOGAPS WAS VERY DRY WITH ETA/MM5
SOLUTIONS SOMEWHAT MORE MOIST. WILL LEAN TOWARD ETA/MM5 SOLUTIONS IN
THAT ENOUGH MOISTURE SHOULD EXIST IN THE LOWER-MID LEVELS ACROSS SE
AZ TO MERIT SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON/EVENING THUNDERSTORMS
ESPECIALLY CENTRAL/ERN SECTIONS INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. THUS
PREVIOUS FORECAST OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WRN SECTIONS EARLY
NEXT WEEK APPEARS REASONABLE AS WEAK SWLY FLOW ALOFT PREVAILS.
EXPECT MAX TEMPS TO BE AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS FOR
LATE JULY.  BF

.TWC...NONE.

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 32 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Cochise

When: July 25, 5:15 PM MST to 5:20 PM MST
Where: Cochise County, Benson
Property damage: $12,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 31.967, -110.300

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

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: 5307676.