Hail in Arizona, September 10, 2002

Name: Hail in Arizona, September 10, 2002
Start: 2002-09-10T20:12
End: 2002-09-10T20:25
Location: Arizona

September 10, 2002 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Severe thunderstorm continued to develop in central Pima County through the late evening. Tohono Nation dispatch reported one inch in diameter size hail at Sells.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Severe thunderstorm continued to develop in central Pima County through the late evening. Tohono Nation dispatch reported one inch in diameter size hail at Sells.

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 Sep 10, 2:30 PM MST, 5 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 10, 2:30 PM MST, 5 hours 42 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST TUE SEP 10 2002

.SYNOPSIS...THE SLOW MOVING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM NEAR SAN DIEGO WILL
FINALLY MOVE NORTHEAST AND OUT OF THE AREA BY FRIDAY. THE LOW
PRESSURE WILL PRODUCE THUNDERSTORMS STATEWIDE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.
ON THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING EASTWARD AND THEN OUT OF
THE STATE BY THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO WARM TO
SEASONAL NORMALS AND HUMIDITY TO DROP.

.DISCUSSION...ACTIVE THUNDERSTORM DAY...WITH UNIDIRECTIONAL FLOW
SHOULD GET SOME SPLITTING STORMS...BUT ITS IFFY ALOFT FOR LARGE
HAIL SINCE H5 TEMPS ARE ONLY -7C...ALTHOUGH THEY MAY GET COLDER THIS
AFTERNOON. UPPER LEVEL DRY AIR WILL RESULT IN A LOT OF ENTRAINMENT
OF DRY AIR SO THERE SHOULD BE SOME VIGOROUS VERTICAL MOTIONS...ALL
SAID PRESENT WORDING FOR AFTERNOON CONVECTION OF NEAR SEVERE LOOKS
PRETTY GOOD. THERE WILL PROBABLY BE SOME CONVECTION ALL NIGHT LONG
AS UPPER LOW SWINGS OUT AND DRAWS ELEVATED CAPE INTO THE AREA. HARD
TO TELL WHERE THAT WILL BE. QUICK MOTION OF THE STORMS LOWERS ANY
POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING.

TOMORROW IT WILL BE WARMER ALOFT WITH LESS DYNAMICS ALTHOUGH STILL
ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR STORMS. STORMS SHOULD ALSO MOVE A TAD SLOWER SO
POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING GOES BACK UP A LITTLE. BY THURSDAY DRY
AIR WILL CONFINE MOST STORMS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND EASTERN ZONES.
THEN ONLY ISOLATED ON FRIDAY. NORTHWEST FLOW FOR THE WEEKEND WILL
CONTINUE THE DRYING BUT NOT LET US GET TOO HOT...JUST NEAR NORMAL.

.TWC...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 10, 2:33 PM MST, 5 hours 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
0233 PM MST TUE SEP 10 2002

TIME (MST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0230 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1.50 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           AT UNIV OF ARIZONA

0230 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   .75 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           DOWNTOWN TUCSON

Local storm report, Sep 10, 6:30 PM MST, 1 hour 42 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
0630 PM MST TUE SEP 10 2002

TIME (MST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0327 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   60 MPH TSTM GUST
09/10/02   PIMA

0230 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1.5 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

0240 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   .75 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           TUCSON MALL

0329 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           WITH 50 MPH WIND GUST

0315 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           BROADWAY AND CAMPBELL

0415 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   WIND DAMAGE
09/10/02   PIMA                           NUMEROUS POWER LINES AND TRAFFIC
                                          SIGNALS DOWN

0356 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   FLASH FLOOD
09/10/02   PIMA                           STREET FLOODING ON SOUTH AND
                                          SOUTHWEST SIDE

0430 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   FLASH FLOOD
09/10/02   PIMA                           WIDESPREAD STREET FLOODING WITH
                                          NUMEROUS ROADS AND INTERSECTIONS
                                          CLOSED

0300 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   WIND DAMAGE
09/10/02   PIMA                           MOBILE HOME OVERTURNED NEAR OLD
                                          VAIL ROAD

0245 PM    CORONA DE TUCSON          AZ   FLASH FLOOD
09/10/02   PIMA                           STREET FLOODING

0320 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   80 MPH TSTM GUST
09/10/02   PIMA                           UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ROOF

Local storm report, Sep 10, 6:30 PM MST, 1 hour 42 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
0630 PM MST TUE SEP 10 2002

TIME (MST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0230 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1.5 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

0240 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   .75 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           TUCSON MALL

0245 PM    CORONA DE TUCSON          AZ   FLASH FLOOD
09/10/02   PIMA                           STREET FLOODING

0300 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   WIND DAMAGE
09/10/02   PIMA                           MOBILE HOME OVERTURNED NEAR OLD
                                          VAIL ROAD

0315 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           BROADWAY AND CAMPBELL

0320 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   80 MPH TSTM GUST
09/10/02   PIMA                           UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ROOF

0327 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   60 MPH TSTM GUST
09/10/02   PIMA

0329 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1 INCH HAIL
09/10/02   PIMA                           WITH 50 MPH WIND GUST

0356 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   FLASH FLOOD
09/10/02   PIMA                           STREET FLOODING ON SOUTH AND
                                          SOUTHWEST SIDE

0415 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   WIND DAMAGE
09/10/02   PIMA                           NUMEROUS POWER LINES AND TRAFFIC
                                          SIGNALS DOWN

0430 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   FLASH FLOOD
09/10/02   PIMA                           WIDESPREAD STREET FLOODING WITH
                                          NUMEROUS ROADS AND INTERSECTIONS
                                          CLOSED

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:09 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Pima

When: September 10, 8:12 PM MST to 8:25 PM MST
Where: Pima County, Sells
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.900, -111.883

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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, September 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: 5316971.