1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 21, 2:30 PM MST, 45 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
230 PM MST MON JUL 21 2003
.SYNOPSIS...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE
THROUGHOUT THIS WEEK AS A MOIST AIRMASS REMAINS IN PLACE OVER
NORTHERN ARIZONA. HIGH PRESSURE TO THE NORTH WILL KEEP SEASONABLY
WARM AFTERNOON CONDITIONS OVER MUCH OF THE STATE FOR THE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS.
.DISCUSSION...AS EXPECTED...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER
THE WESTERN RIM AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND EVENTUALLY OVER THE
EASTERN RIM/WHITES EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. CONVECTION GENERATING
STRONG OUTFLOWS AND COMBINED WITH NORTHEAST FLOW ALOFT...CELLS ARE
PROPAGATING OFF THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND INTO THE LOWER VALLEYS.
OUTFLOW PROPAGATING NORTHEASTWARD OFF THE RIM GENERATING MORE
CONVECTION WHICH IS THEN PUSHING SOUTHWESTWARD SO EXPECT ADDITIONAL
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ON THE RIM EARLY THIS EVENING.
OTHERWISE...MAIN ACTIVITY SHOULD BE IN YAVAPAI/NORTHERN GILA COUNTY
THIS EVENING. WEAK INERTIAL STABILITY OVER YAVAPAI COUNTY THIS
EVENING SHOULD ALLOW CONVECTION TO LINGER THERE LONGEST...AND
GRIDS/ZONES REFLECT THIS.
WEAK WAVE IN NM TO SWING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE
TOMORROW AS THE HIGH PRESSURE CELL BEGINS TO REFORM OVER NM. THIS
SETS UP EASTERLY FLOW OVER THE FORECAST AREA TOMORROW. HAVE KEPT
POPS HIGHER IN THE EVENING OVER YAVAPAI COUNTY TO REFLECT THIS
STEERING FLOW. BY WEDNESDAY...HIGH BECOMES ESTABLISHED OVER NM WITH
SOUTHEAST FLOW DEVELOPING OVER THE FORECAST AREA. HAVE GONE WITH
MODERATE-GRADE POPS THROUGH THE EXTENDED AS HIGH REMAINS TO OUR EAST
AND NO STRONG DRYING TREND APPEARS IN SIGHT. NORTHWEST CORNER MAY
SEE SOME SLIGHT DRYING AS SOUTHWEST FLOW MOVES INTO THE AREA BY
THURSDAY...BUT WITH MODEL UNCERTAINTY TO THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE
HIGH THAT FAR OUT...HAVE NOT INCLUDED THIS IN THE FORECAST.
STAUDENMAIER
.FGZ...NONE.
.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA
CITY TEMPERATURES LO/HI PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
TON TUE WED THU TON TUE WED THU
FLAGSTAFF 055/084 055/083 054/082 040 040 030 040 030 040
WINSLOW 066/098 068/098 066/091 040 030 020 030 020 030
PRESCOTT 066/092 065/091 065/090 040 040 030 040 030 040
PAGE 077/102 076/101 075/094 020 020 010 020 010 020
WINDOW ROCK 054/088 054/087 054/084 040 040 020 040 030 040
CANYON DE CHELLY 067/098 066/097 066/090 040 030 020 030 020 030
COTTONWOOD 076/106 074/105 074/101 040 030 030 030 020 030
GRAND CANYON 050/088 050/087 050/084 040 030 020 030 020 030
GREER 053/080 052/079 051/078 050 060 040 060 050 060
HEBER 060/087 058/086 056/087 040 040 030 040 040 040
JACOB LAKE 055/081 054/080 054/080 040 040 020 040 030 040
NAVAJO N.M. 060/090 060/089 059/084 040 030 020 030 020 030
PAYSON 069/094 068/094 068/095 050 040 030 040 030 040
SEDONA 074/102 072/101 072/099 040 030 030 030 020 030
SELIGMAN 066/096 065/095 065/093 030 030 030 030 020 030
SHOW LOW 068/090 065/089 063/088 050 040 030 040 040 040
ST. JOHNS 066/097 066/097 065/085 040 030 030 030 030 030
WUPATKI N.M. 069/100 069/100 068/093 030 030 020 030 020 030AZZ004>018-037>040-220200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 1000 AM MST MON JUL 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY DEEP MOISTURE REMAINS OVER THE REGION TODAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN EXPECTED ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN OVER THE HIGHER TERRRAIN OF THE MOGOLLON RIM AND CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AFTER 10 AM AND THEN OVER THE OTHER HIGHER TERRAIN LOCATIONS OF NORTHERN ARIZONA BY LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. BY THE MID-AFTERNOON HOURS...STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE SOUTHWEST INTO PORTIONS OF NORTHERN GILA AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES WHERE ACTIVITY WILL LINGER INTO THE EVENING. THE BEST THREAT FOR STRONGER STORMS TODAY WILL BE ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE MOGOLLON RIM AND WHITE MOUNTAINS AS WELL AS NORTHERN GILA COUNTY AND YAVAPAI COUNTY. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY WILL BE BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND SMALL HAIL. A FEW STORMS MAY ALSO CONTAIN BRIEF GUSTY WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY MOISTURE WILL REMAIN OVER ARIZONA THROUGH THE PERIOD FOR A CONTINUED THREAT OF MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. .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 Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 124 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:17 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning hit a transformer and started a fire in Chino Valley.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, July 2003
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: 5378233.