Funnel Cloud in Arizona, August 15, 2003

Name: Funnel Cloud in Arizona, August 15, 2003
Start: 2003-08-15T08:25
End: 2003-08-15T08:25
Location: Arizona

August 15, 2003 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 funnel cloud, 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: 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 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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 15, 3:30 AM MST, 4 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 3:30 AM MST, 4 hours 55 minutes before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
330 AM MST FRI AUG 15 2003

.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING
WIDESPREAD SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO THE REGION THROUGH AT
LEAST SATURDAY. MOSTLY CLOUDY CONDITIONS AND FREQUENT SHOWERS WILL
KEEP TEMPERATURES BELOW NORMAL FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

.DISCUSSION...TROUGH CONTINUES TO MOVE TO THE WEST THIS MORNING AND
SHOULD APPROACH THE STATE DURING THE DAY TODAY. DIVQ DYNAMICS REMAIN
STRONG WITH THIS SYSTEM AND EXPECT TO SEE WIDESPREAD UPWARD FORCING
ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM AS IT PROGRESSES WESTWARD. MOISTURE
REMAINS PLENTIFUL ACROSS THE REGION...THUS EXPECT ANOTHER DAY OF
WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL FELL
YESTERDAY AND OVERNIGHT...ESPECIALLY IN THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE
CWFA. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL TODAY WILL LIKELY LEAD TO SOME FLOODING.
WILL ISSUE FFA FOR WESTERN COUNTIES/ZONES THIS MORNING VALID THROUGH
THIS EVENING.

LOW REMAINS OVER AZ THROUGH THE WEEKEND SO ENHANCED SHOWER ACTIVITY
SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY. BY MONDAY...THE PATTERN SHOULD BEGIN
TO RETURN TO A MORE TYPICAL AUGUST SETUP.  DB

.FGZ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH ZONES 004>009-012-015-016-018-037-038

.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

CITY             TEMPERATURES HI/LO           PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
                 TDY TON   SAT     SUN        TDY TON   SAT   SUN
FLAGSTAFF        072/048 071/048 074/048      060 060 050 030 040 040
WINSLOW          084/058 084/059 088/058      050 050 040 020 030 020
PRESCOTT         080/058 079/058 085/059      070 060 050 020 040 020
PAGE             090/069 087/065 089/065      060 050 040 020 040 020
WINDOW ROCK      076/049 076/047 080/049      050 050 050 030 040 040
CANYON DE CHELLY 082/057 082/055 086/057      050 040 040 020 040 030
COTTONWOOD       091/066 090/066 096/067      060 060 050 020 040 020
GRAND CANYON     073/048 072/048 075/048      060 060 050 020 040 040
GREER            067/045 066/045 069/045      070 060 060 040 050 050
HEBER            077/050 076/050 079/050      060 060 050 030 040 040
JACOB LAKE       070/048 069/048 072/048      060 060 050 030 040 040
NAVAJO N.M.      076/054 076/052 080/054      050 050 040 030 040 040
PAYSON           084/059 083/059 089/060      060 050 040 020 040 020
SEDONA           088/064 087/064 093/065      060 050 050 020 040 020
SELIGMAN         083/057 082/057 088/058      050 050 040 020 040 030
SHOW LOW         077/056 076/056 079/056      060 060 050 030 040 030
ST. JOHNS        079/053 079/054 083/053      050 050 040 020 040 030
WUPATKI N.M.     086/059 086/060 090/059      060 050 040 020 030 020

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 15, 7:00 AM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

AZZ004>018-037>040-160200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
700 AM MST FRI AUG 15 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN
GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT FRIDAY FOR YAVAPAI...NORTHWEST
GILA AND WESTERN COCONINO COUNTY...

DEEP MOISTURE IS LOCATED ALONG...SOUTH AND WEST OF THE MOGOLLON RIM.
LATER THIS AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM ALONG THE
MOGOLLON RIM AND MOVE TO THE SOUTHWEST INTO THE DEEPER MOISTURE. THE
RESULT WILL BE SCATTERED HEAVY RAIN PRODUCING
THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY OVER YAVAPAI COUNTY. LOCALLY UP TO TWO
INCHES OF RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE AREAS UNDER THE FLASH
FLOOD WATCH...MAINLY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. ELSEWHERE
ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA...ONLY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

DEFINITION OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER...A WEATHER EVENT POSING A THREAT
TO LIFE AND PROPERTY.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 15, 5:41 AM MST, 2 hours 44 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
0541 AM MST FRI AUG 15 2003

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

0230 PM    10 S ST. JOHNS            AZ   0.88 IN HAIL
08/14/03   APACHE

0312 PM    10 W ST. JOHNS            AZ   FUNNEL CLOUD
08/14/03   APACHE                         TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS REPORTED
                                          BY DPS

0340 PM    10 SE FLAGSTAFF           AZ   FUNNEL CLOUD
08/14/03   COCONINO                       FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED BY
                                          OFF-DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE

0506 PM    25 SE PAYSON              AZ   1.00 IN HAIL
08/14/03   GILA

0636 PM    VILLAGE AT OAK CREEK      AZ   1.75 IN HAIL
08/14/03   YAVAPAI

0645 PM    25 S FLAGSTAFF            AZ   2.00 IN HAIL
08/14/03   COCONINO                       EXTENSIVE VEHICLE DAMAGE
                                          REPORTED BY OFF-DUTY NWS
                                          EMPLOYEE

0905 PM    5 W PRESCOTT              AZ   FUNNEL CLOUD
08/14/03   YAVAPAI

0938 PM    5 N PAULDEN               AZ   TORNADO
08/14/03   YAVAPAI                        TORNADO REPORTED BY
                                          PRESCOTT S.O.

0720 PM    5 SE CAMP VERDE           AZ   TORNADO
08/14/03   YAVAPAI

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 181 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Apache

When: August 15, 8:25 AM MST
Where: Apache County, St Johns
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.396, -109.489 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two funnel clouds were reported near St Johns.

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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: 5374253.