Arizona, 2003

Tornado in Arizona, May 6, 2003

May 6, 2003 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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 May 6, 10:00 AM MST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 6, 10:00 AM MST, 1 hour 47 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1000 AM MST TUE MAY 06 2003

.SYNOPSIS...A SERIES OF WEAK WEATHER SYSTEMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE
STATE TODAY AND WEDNESDAY...BRINGING A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR RAIN
SHOWERS...ALONG WITH HIGH ELEVATION SNOW SHOWERS TO PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ARIZONA. EXPECT BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS...
PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES...AND UNSETTLED WEATHER FOR THE
REMAINDER OF THE WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...NO UPDATES PLANNED THIS MORNING FOR THE FORECAST AREA.
CURRENT FORECAST HANDLES SITUATION WELL. THE MISSING FORECAST
INGREDIENT IS MOISTURE. LAPSE RATES TODAY WILL BE IN THE 8.0 TO 9.0
DEGREE C PER KM RANGE BETWEEN THE 700 TO 500 MB LAYER WITH WEAK
SYNOPTIC FORCING FOR ASSOCIATED WEAK VERTICAL MOTION FIELDS. BEST
AREA FOR SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FROM FLAGSTAFF
NORTHWARD THIS AFTERNOON. NEXT NOTICEABLE WAVE COMING THROUGH THE
WESTERN U.S. TROUGH WILL BE OVERNIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. MAIN CONCERN
WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL BE THE WINDS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...PERHAPS A
FEW SIGHTS REPORTING WIND GUSTS OVER 40 MPH. WE WILL LOOK AT THE NEW
DATA THIS MORNING AND INCREASE WINDS IN THE GRIDS FOR WEDNESDAY AS
WELL. ANOTHER REINFORCING LOW ON THURSDAY, THIS SYSTEM WILL MOVE
ACROSS NEVADA/UTAH ON FRIDAY WITH STRONG WINDS BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON
FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA.

TC
.FGZ...NONE.

.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

CITY             TEMPERATURES HI/LO           PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
                 TDY TON   WED     THU        TDY TON   WED   THU
FLAGSTAFF        058/034 053/035 057/038      020 020 030 020 000 000
WINSLOW          071/042 068/043 073/046      000 000 000 000 000 000
PRESCOTT         068/043 064/042 068/045      000 000 020 000 000 000
PAGE             070/051 069/052 073/055      020 020 030 020 000 000
WINDOW ROCK      062/030 058/034 063/037      020 020 020 020 000 000
CANYON DE CHELLY 068/038 064/042 069/045      020 020 030 020 000 000
COTTONWOOD       079/050 075/049 079/052      000 000 020 000 000 000
GRAND CANYON     062/036 057/037 061/040      020 020 030 020 000 000
GREER            058/033 053/034 057/037      000 000 020 020 000 000
HEBER            065/035 060/036 064/039      000 000 020 020 000 000
JACOB LAKE       055/037 050/038 054/041      020 020 030 030 000 000
NAVAJO N.M.      060/035 056/039 061/042      020 020 020 030 000 000
PAYSON           073/043 069/042 073/045      000 000 000 000 000 000
SEDONA           076/049 072/048 076/051      000 000 020 000 000 000
SELIGMAN         070/035 066/034 070/037      000 000 020 000 000 000
SHOW LOW         067/043 062/044 066/047      000 000 020 020 000 000
ST. JOHNS        068/039 065/040 070/043      000 000 000 000 000 000
WUPATKI N.M.     073/046 070/047 075/050      000 000 000 000 000 000
Hazardous weather outlook, May 6, 7:00 AM MST, 4 hours 47 minutes before
AZZ004>018-037>040-070200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
700 AM MST TUE MAY 6 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Coconino

When
May 6, 11:47 AM MST to 11:51 AM MST
Where
Coconino County, Wupatki
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
5 yd
Reported by
NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates
35.533, -111.367

A weak tornado was observed in the northwest part of Wapatki National Monument near Highway 89. This is about 10 miles northeast of Flagstaff.

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arizona, 2003Warnings in Arizona, May 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: 5356956.