1 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 Mar 16, 10:30 AM MST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-162245- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 1030 AM MST SUN MAR 16 2003 .SYNOPSIS... A PACIFIC STORM IS SPREADING SHOWERS AND COOLER AIR EAST ACROSS ARIZONA TODAY. RELATIVELY WEAKER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS WILL BRING EVEN COOLER AIR...AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY TO SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA MONDAY...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A SHOWER OR STORM OVER AND EAST OF PHOENIX TUESDAY. IT WILL BE BREEZY TO WINDY DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEK...WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY. BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WITH THE COOLEST DAYTIME HIGHS MONDAY. HIGHER PRESSURE ALOFT FROM THE PACIFIC IS EXPECTED TO BRING A SLOW RECOVERY IN TEMPERATURES THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK. .DISCUSSION... A VERY STRONG JET STREAM WILL CONTINUE MOVING INTO THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES AND NORTHWEST MEXICO. AT THE SAME TIME A COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP AND MOVE EAST OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA ...ARIZONA...AND NEW MEXICO THROUGH TUESDAY. THE FIRST WAVE OF SHOWERS MOVED EAST ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA LAST NIGHT AND EARLY THIS MORNING AND IS MOVING EAST ACROSS ARIZONA TODAY. A COUPLE OF OTHER RELATIVELY WEAKER WAVES ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT FROM THE PACIFIC IS EXPECTED TO BRING A SLOW RECOVERY IN TEMPERATURES THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK. WIND...PARTICULARLY IN SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA TODAY WILL BECOME EVEN STRONGER MONDAY WITH WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEK. A WIND ADVISORY WILL PROBABLY BE NECESSARY FOR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY MONDAY AND TUESDAY. .PSR...NONE.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-170100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 600 AM MST SUN MAR 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER PORTIONS OF FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ...AND THE STRONGEST STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER MUCH OF FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AS WELL AS THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. PERIODS OF BLOWING DUST OR SAND WILL BE POSSIBLE...AND THE DUST OR SAND MAY RESULT IN SHARPLY REDUCED VISIBILITY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA MONDAY AND TUESDAY...AND THE STRONGEST STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL LOWER TO NEAR 4500 FEET OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA MONDAY NIGHT.
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 15 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:41 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorms developed south and west of Sun Lakes and moved rapidly northeast across Chandler. Brief heavy rain accompanied these storms.
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, March 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: 5346378.