1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 Mar 1, 1:45 AM PST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-011745-
SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
245 AM MST FRI MAR 1 2002
.SYNOPSIS...
A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FROM THE NORTH WILL RESULT IN WINDY AND COOLER
WEATHER TODAY AND SATURDAY...WITH TEMPERATURES ON SATURDAY DROPPING
BELOW AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. HIGH PRESSURE OFF THE WEST
COAST WILL MOVE EAST OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES WITH
WARMING TO NEAR AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR EARLY NEXT WEEK...THEN
LITTLE CHANGE THROUGH MID WEEK. MOSTLY CLEAR NIGHTS AND SUNNY DAYS
ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...EXCEPT FOR PARTLY
CLOUDY SKIES NEAR THE SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA MOUNTAINS FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY.
.DISCUSSION...
MAIN EVENT IS WIND AND COOLING TODAY/SAT. MODELS IN PRETTY GOOD
AGREEMENT. SHORT WAVE TROF AT THIS TIME OVER NORTHERN UT/NV AS SHOWN
ON WATER VAPOR PHOTOS INITIALIZED OK ON MODELS. THIS TROF WILL DIG
OUT TROF OVER AZ AS ITS VORTMAX SWINGS THROUGH 4 CORNERS REGION BY
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. FAIR AMOUNT OF HIEGHT/THICKNESS FALLS TODAY
FOR AROUND 7 TO 10 DEGS OF COOLING OVER CWA. PRESSURE GRADIENTS ALSO
TIGHTEN FOR WINDS. SE CA AND LOWER CO RIVER VALLEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN
BREEZY FOR A TIME EARLY TONIGHT...AND SHOULD BECOME WINDY OVER
ENTIRE CWA DURING THE DAY TODAY. STRONGEST WINDS SHOULD BE OVER
LOWER CO RIVER VALLEY BUT EXPECT THEM TO REMAIN JUST BELOW ADVISORY
LIMITS. ANOTHER VORTMAX IN THE STRONG NORHERLY FLOW WILL COME DOWN
THRU UT TONIGHT AND CONTINUE TO CURVE OUT A DEEPER TROF OVER
AZ...WITH THE VORTMAX MOVING SOUTHWARD INTO CENTRAL AZ BY SAT
AFTERNOON BEFORE TURNING EAST. MODELS BRING A LITTLE MORE TIGHTENING
OF THE GRADIENT SAT SO EXPECT A BIT HIGHER WIND OVER CWA SAT. AGAIN
WILL TAKE WINDS UP TO NEAR ADVISORY LIMITS...BUT MAY NEED ONE AT
THAT TIME. IT WILL ALSO BRING DOWN MORE COOLER AIR FOR ADDITIONAL
SUBSTANTIAL COOLING. MOISTURE WISE... BOTH VORTMAXS CURVING OUT THE
TROF OVER AZ WILL HAVE VERY LIMITED MOISTURE FOR CWA. MODELS SHOW
ANY MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH SYSTEM ITSELF WILL REMAIN TO THE NORTH
OF CWA. PLUS...THE LARGE MOISTURE FIELD SEEN ON SATELLITE PHOTOS OFF
THE CA/BAJA COASTS WILL BE FORCED SOUTHWARD INTO AND THROUGH
NORTHERN MEXICO AS THE STRONG NORTHERLY FLOW DIVES INTO AZ CURVING
OUT THE TROF. HOWEVER...THE SOUTHERN BORDER AREAS MAY SEE A FEW
STREAKS OF HIGH CLOUDS...THAT BEING THE NORTHERN EDGE OF THIS CLOUD
AREA AS IT MOVES INTO NORTHERN MEXICO. OTHERWISE... MODELS SHOW DRY
AIRMASS AT ALL LEVELS OVER CWA. PLUS SURFACE DEW POINTS OVER CWA ARE
LOW...MOSTLY IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS. THUS SKIES WILL BE
CLEAR AS THESE SYSTEMS AFFECT CWA TODAY/SAT. THESE LOW DEW POINTS
PLUS THE INCREASED WINDS WILL RESULT IN KEEPING THE FIRE WX WATCH IN
AFFECT FOR LOWER CO RIVER VALLEY TODAY AND ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND
SW AZ SAT. ENTIRE TROF MOVES EAST SUN WITH NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUING
FROM UPPER RIDGE NEAR CA COAST. DRY AIRMASS CONTINUES WITH A LITTLE
WARMING SUN WITH DECREASING WIND. FLOW BECOMES MORE WESTERLY BY MON
AND REMAINS THROUGH MID WEEK RESULTING IN CONTINUED MOSTLY CLEAR
SKIES WITH ADDITIONAL WARMING WITH ALL EXTENDED MODELS IN PRETTY
GOOD AGREEMENT. DKS
.PSR...FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY
FOR TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY...
FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY AND
ALL OF SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA SATURDAY DUE
TO STRONG GUSTY WIND AND LOW HUMIDITY.1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High winds knocked a semi-truck off Interstate 10 near Eagle Mountain Road. A motor home also sustained wind damage in the same area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 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: 5289120.