Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Arizona, August 13, 2003

Name: Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Arizona, August 13, 2003
Start: 2003-08-13T20:20
End: 2003-08-13T22:30
Location: Arizona

August 13, 2003 · NWS PSR · 3 events in 1 county or zone

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 13, 4:16 PM MST, 4 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 4:16 PM MST, 4 hours 4 minutes before

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-140545-

SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
315 PM MST WED AUG 13 2003

.SYNOPSIS...
STRONG HIGH PRESSURE RESPONSIBLE FOR NEAR RECORD HEAT IS DEPARTING
TO THE NORTHEAST...AS A LARGE TEXAS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM APPROACHES
FROM THE EAST. MOISTURE AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM MEANS SCATTERED SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA TONIGHT WITH AN INCREASING
CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SPREADING WEST LATE TONIGHT AND
THURSDAY...ALONG WITH COOLER WEATHER...LINGERING FRIDAY. SOME
THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY DAMAGING WINDS AND LOCALLY
HEAVY RAIN. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD WITH A SLOW RECOVERY
OF TEMPERATURES AND LESS THUNDERSTORMS LATE SUNDAY AND EARLY NEXT
WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...
DESPITE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE BEING A FEW DEGREES COOLER
AND MORE MOIST EARLY THIS MORNING COMPARED WITH THE SAME TIME
YESTERDAY...MID AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WERE GENERALLY 2 TO 4 DEGREES
WARMER TODAY COMPARED WITH YESTERDAY. THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THAT
WAS MOVING SLOWLY WEST OVER TEXAS TODAY IS EXPECTED TO REACH
SOUTHWEST TEXAS BY EARLY THURSDAY AND ARIZONA FRIDAY. HOWEVER...THE
FLOW ALOFT OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA IS ALREADY OUT OF THE
NORTHEAST. THIS WILL ALLOW THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP OVER THE
HIGHER TERRAIN TO DEVELOP SOUTHWEST INTO THE SOUTH-CENTRAL DESERT
AREAS INCLUDING THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA TONIGHT. SOME OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SEVERE WITH STRONG GUSTY DAMAGING WINDS...AND
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. AS THE LOW CONTINUES MOVING WEST...EXPECT THE
CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO SPREAD FURTHER WEST TO
SOUTHWEST ARIZONA LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA
THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. WITH THE LOW PRESSURE CONTINUING TO
LINGER...THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY...AND TO A LESSER EXTENT SATURDAY. THE LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTH BY LATE SUNDAY AND EARLY
NEXT WEEK. AT THE SAME TIME...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD WITH
A SLOW RECOVERY OF TEMPERATURES AND LESS THUNDERSTORMS LATE SUNDAY
AND EARLY NEXT WEEK.

.PSR...NONE.

ELLIS

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 13, 2:28 PM MST, 5 hours 52 minutes before

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-140100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
915 AM MST WED AUG 13 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST AND
SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THERE IS AN INCREASING CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN
SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA TONIGHT. STRONG GUSTY POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS
...DENSE BLOWING DUST WITH REDUCED VISIBILITY...AND LOCALLY HEAVY
RAIN ARE EXPECTED WITH SOME STORMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD WEST INTO SOUTHWEST
ARIZONA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. THE GREATEST THREAT WITH THESE STORMS IS HEAVY RAIN.
HOWEVER...STRONG GUSTY POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...
ALONG WITH DENSE BLOWING DUST AND SAND WITH REDUCED VISIBILITY. THE
CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE FRIDAY...THEN
DIMINISH THIS WEEKEND.

.INSTRUCTIONS TO SPOTTERS...
WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

ELLIS

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:17 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Maricopa

When: August 13, 8:20 PM MST to 8:30 PM MST
Where: Maricopa County, Wittmann
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 33.783, -112.533

Thunderstorm Wind, Maricopa

When: August 13, 8:40 PM MST to 9:00 PM MST
Where: Maricopa County, Wickenburg
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 33.967, -112.733

Flash Flood, Maricopa

When: August 13, 9:30 PM MST to 10:30 PM MST
Where: Maricopa County, Wickenburg
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.349, -112.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash flood in Sols Wash swept the vehicle downstream from Vulture Mine Road

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Flash Flood, Maricopa	2003-08-13	58	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

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.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arizona in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, August 2003

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: 5374656, 5374655, 5374654.