Flood in Arizona, August 24, 2003

Name: Flood in Arizona, August 24, 2003
Start: 2003-08-24T14:05
End: 2003-08-24T16:30
Location: Arizona

August 24, 2003 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 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: 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 24, 9:40 AM MST, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 24, 9:40 AM MST, 4 hours 25 minutes before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
940 AM MST SUN AUG 24 2003

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED NORTHEAST OF ARIZONA WILL
CONTINUE TO CIRCULATE MOISTURE OVER THE REGION. AFTERNOON AND
EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE EACH DAY THROUGH
NEXT WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR YAVAPAI/COCONINO COUNTIES WILL
BE GOING FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE DAY TODAY. MID SHIFT PUT OUT THE
WATCH...AND EVERYTHING LOOKS GOOD IN THAT RESPECT. MOIST AIRMASS
WILL REMAIN OVER ARIZONA FOR SEVERAL DAYS...CONTINUALLY BEING FED BY
MANY DIFFERENT SOURCES. MID-UPPER LEVEL FEEDER FROM IGNACIO SHOULD
CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL DAYS...AS WELL AS INDUCING PERIODIC SURGES UP
THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA. IN ADDITION...BROAD EASTERLY WAVE SOUTHEAST
OF TUCSON WILL LIKELY LEAD TO MCS TYPE SYSTEMS OVER SOUTHERN ARIZONA
AGAIN TONIGHT...ADDING TO THE MOISTURE FLUX NORTHWARD. AIRMASS IS
ALSO QUITE UNSTABLE WITH AFTERNOON LI READINGS AROUND MINUS 4 TO
MINUS 5. STORMS WILL LIKELY BE VERY SLOW MOVERS TODAY WITH NEARLY NO
FLOW IN THE NORTHLAND...SHEAR PROFILES DO NOT FAVOR SUPERCELLS. NOT
REALLY ANY SIGNIFICANT DIV ALOFT TODAY EITHER...SO BIG RAINERS THAT
REMAIN STATIONARY AND EVENTUALLY KILL THEMSELVES WILL BE THE RULE.
MORE OF THE SAME MONDAY/TUESDAY. PETERSON.

.FGZ...FFA YAVAPAI/COCONINO COUNTIES 10 AM MST UNTIL 11 PM MST.

.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

CITY             TEMPERATURES HI/LO           PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
                 TDY TON   MON     TUE        TDY TON   MON   TUE
FLAGSTAFF        077/051 078/051 078/050      060 040 050 040 040 030
WINSLOW          090/063 091/062 090/061      030 030 030 020 040 010
PRESCOTT         083/059 083/060 081/059      060 040 050 040 040 030
PAGE             089/067 092/068 091/067      030 030 040 030 030 020
WINDOW ROCK      081/052 084/051 081/050      040 030 040 030 040 020
CANYON DE CHELLY 087/060 090/059 087/058      030 030 030 030 030 020
COTTONWOOD       094/067 094/068 092/067      050 030 040 030 040 020
GRAND CANYON     078/051 079/051 079/050      050 040 050 040 040 030
GREER            072/048 073/048 073/047      050 050 050 050 040 030
HEBER            082/053 083/053 083/052      050 040 050 040 040 030
JACOB LAKE       075/051 076/051 076/050      040 040 040 030 040 020
NAVAJO N.M.      081/057 084/056 081/055      030 040 040 040 040 030
PAYSON           087/060 087/061 085/060      040 040 040 040 040 020
SEDONA           091/065 091/066 089/065      050 040 040 030 040 020
SELIGMAN         086/058 086/059 084/058      060 040 040 030 040 020
SHOW LOW         082/059 083/059 083/058      050 040 050 040 040 030
ST. JOHNS        090/061 091/060 090/059      040 040 040 030 040 020
WUPATKI N.M.     092/064 093/063 092/062      040 040 040 030 040 020

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 24, 9:50 AM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes before

AZZ004>018-037>040-250200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
950 AM MST SUN AUG 24 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF COCONINO AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES FROM
10 AM MST UNTIL 11 PM MST TODAY...

A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS REMAINS ACROSS THE REGION TODAY.
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY THIS
AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY OVER PORTIONS OF COCONINO AND YAVAPAI
COUNTIES. MORE ISOLATED STRONG STORMS WILL ALSO DEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA.

STRONG STORM DEVELOPMENT OVER YAVAPAI AND COCONINO COUNTIES WILL
LEAD TO MORE HEAVY RAIN OVER PREVIOUSLY SATURATED AND FLOODED
AREAS. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF YAVAPAI AND
COCONINO COUNTIES FROM 10 AM MST THROUGH 11 PM MST TONIGHT.

STRONGER STORMS OUTSIDE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH AREA MAY ALSO LEAD TO
INCREASED FLOW IN WASHES AND DRY CREEK BEDS. HOWEVER...THE CHANCES
FOR DAMAGING FLASH FLOODING ARE MUCH LESS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL REMAIN OVER ARIZONA RESULTING IN
A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. FLOODING POTENTIAL
WILL REMAIN MODERATE OVER YAVAPAI AND COCONINO COUNTIES.

.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.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Western Mogollon Rim

When: August 24, 2:05 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
Where: Western Mogollon Rim forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.839, -111.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rain caused extensive street flooding in west Flagstaff. One spotter reported 1.15 inches of rain in only 15 minutes. The intersection of Milton and Butler roads was covered with 1 to 2 feet of running water for over an hour. The water also flooded yards and entered the back doors of some homes. Flood water also entered a hotel.

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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: 5374319.