Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 8, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 8, 2002
Start: 2002-07-08T20:40
End: 2002-07-08T21:15
Location: Arizona

July 8, 2002 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Another batch of severe thunderstorms moved through the town of Tombstone producing strong winds. At 8:40 pm MST, a spotter reported a large tree blown down in a next door neighbors yard.

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

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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 TWC wrote it up.

Another batch of severe thunderstorms moved through the town of Tombstone producing strong winds. At 8:40 pm MST, a spotter reported a large tree blown down in a next door neighbors yard.

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 8, 2:35 PM MST, 6 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 2:35 PM MST, 6 hours 5 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
235 PM MST MON JUL 8 2002

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE HAS MOVED INTO A POSITION TO ALLOW
MOISTURE INTO THE STATE FROM NEW MEXICO AND NORTHERN MEXICO THIS
WEEK. THIS WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING
THUNDERSTORMS. EXPECT THEM TO BE MAINLY NEAR THE MOUNTAINS
MONDAY...BUT A FEW STORMS WILL MOVE INTO EASTERN VALLEYS LATE IN THE
DAY. THERE WILL BE A BETTER CHANCE OF VALLEY THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY
AFTERNOON AS DEEPER MOISTURE PUSHES INTO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. WE
SHOULD SEE A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH
THE COMING WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...ISOLATED CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON IN AREAS THAT
RECEIVED MORE SUNSHINE...MAINLY EAST OF TUCSON...WITH REMAINDER OF
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA (EXCEPT WESTERN PIMA COUNTY) UNDER A BKN DECK OF
MID-HI LEVEL CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH INVERTED TROF OVER NORTHERN
SONORA/EXTREME SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. APPEARS THAT THE BEST DYNAMICS
WILL BE SOUTH ACROSS NORTHERN SONORA TONIGHT AS THE INVERTED TROF
MOVES SLOWLY TO THE WEST-SOUTHWEST OVERNIGHT. HOWEVER MOISTURE WILL
CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA FROM EAST TO WEST AND INCREASE
SURFACE DEWPOINTS THAT THIS AFTERNOON ARE IN THE UPPER 40S TO MID
50S. WITH BEST DYNAMICS SOUTH OF THE BORDER...SONORA IS LIGHTING UP
FOR THE FIRST TIME...AND THAT IS A GOOD SIGN. HOPEFULLY OUTFLOWS
FROM THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX THERE WILL SPREAD NEEDED LOW-LEVEL
MOISTURE NORTH INTO SOUTHERN ARIZONA. EASTERLY FLOW ALOFT REALLY
KICKS IN TUESDAY AND HANGS AROUND FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AS
IMPULSES MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. WILL KEEP STANDARD MONSOON FORECAST
GOING FOR THE WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL SHOW DAY TO DAY FLUCTUATIONS
DUE TO CLOUD COVER/RAINFALL...SO WILL KEEP THEM RIGHT AROUND NORMAL
FOR JULY. G

.TWC...NONE.

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Cochise

When: July 8, 8:40 PM MST to 9:15 PM MST
Where: Cochise County, Tombstone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 31.717, -110.067

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: 5307594.