Name: Dust Storm in Arizona, August 18, 2003
Start: 2003-08-18T17:05
End: 2003-08-18T19:00
Location: Arizona

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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 3:30 PM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 3:30 PM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-190545-

SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
330 PM MST MON AUG 18 2003

.SYNOPSIS...
HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL MOVE FROM SOUTHERN NEVADA TO THE ARIZONA-
NEW MEXICO BORDER TUESDAY...THEN TO THE COLORADO-NEW MEXICO BORDER
WEDNESDAY. THERE IS ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND
EVENING THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS WEEK...MAINLY
OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS FROM THE EAST ARE
EXPECTED TO BRING AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SPREADING WEST ACROSS SOUTH-CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA BY EARLY NEXT WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...
MID AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WERE 3 TO 6 DEGREES WARMER TODAY COMPARED
WITH THE SAME TIME YESTERDAY TIME YESTERDAY. THIS WAS A RESULT OF
HIGHER PRESSURE ALOFT FROM CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA MOVING TOWARD
ARIZONA. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF
SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY/TONTO NATIONAL FOREST FOOTHILLS AND LA PAZ
COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON. AS OF MID AFTERNOON THE THUNDERSTORMS OVER LA
PAZ COUNTY WERE DISSIPATING.ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE INTO
SOUTHWEST MARICOPA COUNTY AND NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL PINAL
COUNTY THIS EVENING WITH BLOWING DUST POSSIBLY SPREADING FURTHER
NORTHWEST OVER THE DESERT AREAS OF SOUTH-CENTRAL...INCLUDING
PHOENIX...INTO SOUTHWEST ARIZONA. THERE IS ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR A
CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...MAINLY THE HIGHER TERRAIN EAST AND SOUTHEAST
OF THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA THE REST OF THE WEEK...AND MAINLY
TUESDAY AND THURSDAY DUE TO WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS FROM THE
SOUTHEAST. THUS...HAVE MENTIONED A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS AND AREAS OF BLOWING DUST FOR THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA
FOR TUESDAY AND THURSDAY EVENINGS. THE NEXT MAIN INCREASE IN
MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO TAKE PLACE BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. AND THIS
COMING WEEKEND. THIS IS EXPECTED TO HAPPEN AS WEAK LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEMS FROM THE EAST ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF A HIGH NEAR THE
COLORADO-NEW MEXICO BORDER BRING AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE.
THUS...THE CURRENT FORECAST OF A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS FOR ALL OF SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...INCLUDING THE
GREATER PHOENIX AREA...INTO SOUTHWEST ARIZONA FOR SATURDAY
EVENING...SPREADING WEST TO SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA BY SUNDAY EVENING
LOOKS GOOD.

.PSR...NONE.

ELLIS

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 18, 6:00 AM MST, 11 hours 5 minutes before

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-190100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
600 AM MST MON AUG 18 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

Event by event

1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Storm, Nw Pinal

When: August 18, 5:05 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where: Nw Pinal forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Blowing dust reduced visibility to less than 1/4 mile near Casa Grande.

What these are

Dust Storm: Blowing dust that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

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: 5374726.