3 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 29, 2:50 PM MST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-300545- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 250 PM MST TUE JUL 29 2003 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA ANOTHER DAY BEFORE MIGRATING TOWARDS THE FOUR CORNERS REGION MID WEEK...AND OVER NEW MEXICO BY THE WEEKEND. MEANWHILE...A CLOSED LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE WESTWARD ACROSS THE BAJA PENINSULA...AND THEN NORTHWARD TOWARDS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BY FRIDAY. THERE WILL BE A CONTINUED CHANCE OF MAINLY AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY THROUGH FRIDAY. DRYING IS POSSIBLE BY THE WEEKEND...WITH A TYPICAL LOW-GRADE MONSOON FORECAST IN PLACE THROUGH THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK. .DISCUSSION... SAT IMAGERY AND RADAR PICS THIS AFTERNOON SHOW THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE MOGOLLON RIM AND OVER YAVAPAI COUNTY...YET THINGS APPEAR TO BE SLOW TO GET GOING OVER SOUTHEAST AND EASTERN AZ (AND RIGHTFULLY SO AFTER TWO RATHER ACTIVE WEATHER DAYS). FLOW ALOFT REMAINS OUT OF THE EAST OVER CENTRAL AZ AND OUT OF THE SOUTHEAST OVER SOUTHEASTERN AZ. THUS...ANY ACTIVITY WE GET IN THE LOWER DESERTS TONIGHT WILL LIKELY BE AFTER SUNSET. A QUICK RE-CAP OF THE CURRENT SYNOPTIC PATTERN HAS A CLOSED LOW CIRCULATION OFF THE BAJA PENINSULA...AND A STRONG UPPER LEVEL HIGH OVER NRN CA. DISTURBANCES CONTINUE TO ROTATE AROUND BOTH OF THESE LARGE SCALE FEATURES...WITH ANOTHER AREA OF UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE PROGED TO ROTATE THROUGH NRN AZ AND INTO SE CA THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING...WHILE A SECOND DISTURBANCE ROTATES AROUND THE CLOSED LOW AND ACROSS NRN MEX. THE THUNDERSTORMS PARTIALLY INITIATED BY THESE TWO FEATURES COULD MEET UP OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA... SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA FOR A RATHER ACTIVE EVENING OVER OUR CWA. HAVE INCREASED THE POPS OVERNIGHT FOR OUR WRN ZONES TO CARRY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGHOUT THE EVENING HOURS. WILL GO WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTH-CENTRAL DESERTS AND HIGHER TERRAIN (POSSIBLY OVER AZ ZONE 21 AS WELL AS SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER YAVAPAI COUNTY CONTINUE TO DRIFT SOUTHWEST). BEYOND TONIGHT...LOOKS LIKE THE CLOSED LOW WILL CONTINUE TO MIGRATE NORTH AND WEST...WHILE THE HIGH SHIFTS BACK EASTWARD. NOT A LOT IN THE WAY OF UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS PROGED FOR WED ...AND WILL GO WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH-CENTRAL AZ...PARTLY SUNNY ELSEWHERE. BY THU...THE HIGH IS LOCATED OVER NRN NEW MEXICO WITH THE LOW JUST OFF THE SRN CA COAST. THIS SYNOPTIC PATTERN WILL RESULT IN A SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER ARIZONA...WHICH COULD INCREASE MOISTURE OVER THE STATE AS SEVERAL DISTURBANCES ARE PROGED BY THE MODELS TO WORK THEIR WAY ACROSS MEXICO...AND UP INTO ARIZONA DURING THE THU/FRI TIME FRAME. BEYOND FRI...THE GFS SUGGESTS SOME DRYING OVER OUR WRN CWA AS THE FLOW BECOMES SOUTHWESTERLY. FOR NOW...WILL GO WITH A STANDARD LOW GRADE MONSOON FORECAST SAT THROUGH TUE. LW .PSR...NONE.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-300100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 600 AM MST TUE JUL 29 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE DEVELOPING OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND OVER ALL THE DESERT AREAS FROM SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA WESTWARD THROUGH SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AND STRONG GUSTY DAMAGING WINDS...ESPECIALLY DURING THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.
The Yuma radar (KYUX), 168 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:38 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain accompanied the thunderstorm winds. One-half inch of rain was reported in just 20 minutes.
Thunderstorms were widespread across Maricopa County, from Queen Creek to Wittmann from 1925 MST to 2130 MST. Microburst winds hit the north part of Tempe and took out stoplights at most of the city's major intersections. Winds tore down tree limbs and caused power outages, with about 30,000 customers losing power. Lightning struck trees and homes, and some street flooding was reported. Chandler airport had a peak wind speed of 64 mph at 8 pm. Sky Harbor airport closed its runways for about 40 minutes, until 9 pm, as winds peaked at 56 mph. Phoenix Fire Department responded to six house fires, 20 tree fires, 75 downed power lines, and numerous fender benders.
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: 5376570, 5376569, 5376571.