2 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 Sep 6, 10:10 AM MST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-062245- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 1010 AM MST FRI SEP 6 2002 .SYNOPSIS... MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO FLOW INTO SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FROM THE REMAINS OF TROPICAL SYSTEM HERNAN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...WITH SOME MOISTURE FROM MEXICO MOVING OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA. LOW PRESSURE ALOFT ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL GRADUALLY SPREAD ADDITIONAL MOISTURE INTO SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...FOR AN INCREASING CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY TROUGH THIS WEEKEND. SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL LOWER THE NEXT FEW DAYS TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. .DISCUSSION... A VERY MOIST...UNSTABLE AIRMASS HAS BEEN IMPORTED INTO ALL OF THE PHX FORECAST AREA THE PAST DAY OR SO...THANKS MOSTLY TO TD HERNAN. EVEN FAR ERN CWFA IS NOW IN THE SOUP AND THIS MORE LIKELY JUST DUE TO SLY FLOW BRINGING MEXICAN MOISTURE OUR WAY RATHER THAN MOISTURE DIRECTLY FROM HERNAN. PHX 12Z SOUNDING VERY UNSTABLE WITH LOTS OF AVAILABLE CAPE READY TO BE RELEASED. NOW...IF WE CAN JUST PUT OUR FINGERS ON A TRIGGER. MODELS NOT MUCH HELP HERE...BUT WV LOOPS HINT THERE MAY BE AT LEAST A COUPLE OF WEAK RIPPLES APPROACHING IN THE SLY FLOW FROM NW MEXICO. SO...MEDIUM GRADE CHANCE POPS STILL APPEAR IN ORDER. IN FACT...IN AFTERNOON PACKAGE...WILL CONSIDER KICKING POPS INTO AREAL TERMS. MEANWHILE...OVER WRN CWFA...A NICE PERSISTENT LINE OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS CONTINUES TO RUMBLE. HAVE BEEN HANDLING THIS WITH NOWS...BUT IF WE CAN GET SOME GROUND TRUTH THAT WOULD SUPPORT OUR ONE AND THREE HOUR PRECIP RADAR ESTIMATES OF OVER ONE INCH...WE MAY EVENTUALLY NEED TO GO WITH A SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY. AS YOU WOULD EXPECT...THIS SMALL SCALE AREA OF CONVERGENCE NOT BEING HANDLED WELL AT ALL BY THE 12Z MODELS. ALL IN ALL...IT LOOKS LIKE A VERY ACTIVE WEEKEND WX-WISE. CURRENT FORECASTS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE...NO UPDATES FOR NOW. ESTLE .PSR...NONE.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-070700- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 109 PM MST FRI SEP 6 2002 ...A RISK OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AND HAZARDOUS WEATHER OVER ALL OF SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA...AS WELL AS SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA DESERTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THE OUTLOOK AREA CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... MARICOPA...NORTHERN PINAL...SOUTHERN GILA...LA PAZ AND YUMA IN ARIZONA...AND IMPERIAL AND EASTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDE...THE GREATER PHOENIX METROPOLITAN AREA...CASA GRANDE...FLORENCE... COOLIDGE...GLOBE...MIAMI...SUPERIOR...GILA BEND...WENDEN...PARKER ...QUARTZSITE AND YUMA...AS WELL AS BLYTHE AND THE IMPERIAL VALLEY TOWNS IN SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. THE PRIMARY HAZARDOUS WEATHER RISKS OVER THIS OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDE STRONG AND DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 45 MPH...AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...ALONG WITH LIGHTNING. STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY LATER THIS AFTERNOON. ESTLE
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:01 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Microburst winds damaged or destroyed over 100 homes at the Blue Sky Mobile Estates Park in Glendale. Winds also damaged over 100 vehicles at car dealerships near 51st Avenue. Nearby roofs were damaged and power poles were blown down.
Dense blowing dust in Florence reduced the visibility to about 50 yards.
Winds blew down about 30 power poles. About 400 students were trapped for several hours due to downed power lines that blocked a road to the school. Roof damage was also reported in Gold Canyon..Wind speeds were reported to be as high as 60 mph in Apache Junction.
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, September 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: 5319761, 5319763, 5319762.