Name: Hail in Arizona, September 3, 2003
Start: 2003-09-03T11:30
End: 2003-09-03T11:30
Location: Arizona

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 Sep 3, 9:30 AM MST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 3, 9:30 AM MST, 2 hours before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
930 AM MST WED SEP 03 2003

.SYNOPSIS...EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN TODAY
OVER THE MOGOLLON RIM...WITH ISOLATED ACTIVITY ELSEWHERE. AN UPPER
LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE STATE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
WITH A SLIGHT INCREASE EXPECTED IN CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. A DRYING
TREND WILL DEVELOP OVER THE WEEKEND AND INTO NEXT WEEK WITH WARMING
TEMPERATURES AND ONLY ISOLATED ACTIVITY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN.

.DISCUSSION...A BROAD RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE WEST
TODAY WITH A WEAK DEFORMATION AXIS ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL
ARIZONA. BEST THETA-E VALUES ARE OVER NORTHERN AND WESTERN ARIZONA
WITH DRIER AIR TO THE SOUTH AND EAST. 12Z SOUNDING FROM FLG SHOWING
A FAIRLY UNSTABLE AIRMASS...WITH SOME LIGHT CONVECTION ALREADY
DEVELOPING EARLY THIS MORNING. BEST SHOT TODAY WILL BE ALONG THE
DEFORMATION AXIS AND IN THE MOISTURE RICH AIR ALONG AND WEST OF THE
MOGOLLON RIM...WITH VERY ISOLATED ACTIVITY ELSEWHERE. UPPER LEVEL
FORCING IMPROVES SOMEWHAT THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AND FLOW BECOMES A BIT
MORE WESTERLY. THIS SHOULD IMPROVE THE CHANCES FOR CONVECTION BEFORE
A DRYING TREND DEVELOPS OVER THE WEEKEND. THESE TRENDS COVERED IN
THE MORNING PACKAGE AND NO UPDATES NEEDED AT THIS TIME. PETERSON.

.FGZ...NONE.

.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

CITY             TEMPERATURES HI/LO          PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
                 TDY TON   THU     FRI       TDY TON   THU   FRI
FLAGSTAFF        078/049 076/048 077/048     030 020 040 030 030 020
WINSLOW          090/062 088/059 089/059     020 010 030 030 030 010
PRESCOTT         086/059 084/059 085/059     020 010 030 020 030 010
PAGE             093/072 091/069 092/069     020 010 030 030 030 010
WINDOW ROCK      085/050 083/048 084/048     030 020 040 030 030 020
CANYON DE CHELLY 090/060 088/055 089/055     020 010 040 030 030 020
COTTONWOOD       096/066 094/067 095/067     020 010 030 020 030 010
GRAND CANYON     082/053 080/049 081/049     020 020 040 030 030 010
GREER            075/047 073/047 074/047     030 020 040 030 040 020
HEBER            080/054 078/051 079/051     030 020 040 030 030 020
JACOB LAKE       075/049 073/048 074/048     030 020 040 030 030 020
NAVAJO N.M.      084/055 082/054 083/054     030 020 040 030 030 020
PAYSON           089/056 087/060 088/060     020 010 030 020 030 010
SEDONA           094/065 092/066 093/066     020 010 040 030 030 020
SELIGMAN         089/061 087/056 088/056     020 010 030 020 020 000
SHOW LOW         084/053 082/057 083/057     030 020 040 030 030 020
ST. JOHNS        089/059 087/055 088/055     020 010 040 030 030 020
WUPATKI N.M.     092/063 090/061 091/061     020 010 030 030 030 010

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 3, 10:05 AM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

AZZ004>018-037>040-040200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1005 AM MST WED SEP 3 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM BY LATE MORNING OVER
THE MOGOLLON RIM...KAIBAB PLATEAU...GRAND CANYON PARK...AS WELL AS
PORTIONS OF THE NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS. STORMS LOCATED NORTH
OF I-40 WILL MOVE VERY SLOWLY NORTH OR BE STATIONARY...WHILE STORMS
THAT FORM SOUTH OF I-40 WILL LIKELY MOVE SOUTH AND WEST OFF THE RIM
BY AFTERNOON.

STORMS TODAY WILL CONTAIN MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND MOSTLY
SMALL HAIL. DUE TO THE SLOW STORM MOTION TODAY...SOME LOCALIZED RAIN
TOTALS MAY EXCEED ONE AND ONE HALF INCHES...AND MAY PRODUCE SOME
FLOODING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

A SLIGHT INCREASE IN SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS A WEAK UPPER LEVEL WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVES
ACROSS THE REGION. A DRYING TREND WILL DEVELOP BY THE WEEKEND.

.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 Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Coconino

When: September 3, 11:30 AM MST
Where: Coconino County, Flagstaff
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 35.200, -111.650

Three-quarter to one inch diameter hail was reported at an elementary school in Flagstaff.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, September 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: 5337133.