Arizona, 2003

Flash Flood in Arizona, September 6, 2003

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

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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.

  • 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 6, 2:30 PM MST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 6, 2:30 PM MST, 1 hour before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
230 PM MST SAT SEP 06 2003

.SYNOPSIS...A DRIER AIR MASS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA ON SUNDAY AND
MONDAY BRINGING MOSTLY CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND ISOLATED
AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. FOR MONDAY NIGHT...TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY A
LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE WESTERN UNITED STATES WILL PULL
MOISTURE BACK ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA FOR A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS
BOTH DAYS.

.DISCUSSION...FOR SUNDAY DRIER AND WARMER AIR ALOFT BEHIND THE
CURRENT SHORT-WAVE TROUGH WILL RESULT IN A MORE STABLE ATMOSPHERE
WITH JUST ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF NORTHERN ARIZONA.
STORMS WILL REMAIN SCATTERED NEAR THE NEW MEXICO BORDER WHERE THE
THETA-E RIDGE WILL BE LOCATED. MONDAY LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO SUNDAY
AT THIS POINT. HOWEVER...THE LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL BE TURNING MORE
SOUTHERLY DURING THE DAY AND THE DEEP MOISTURE THAT WILL BE JUST TO
OUR SOUTH COULD SURGE BACK EARLIER THAN THE MODELS ARE SHOWING. WE
WILL BE KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON MONDAY.

MOISTURE RETURNS FOR MONDAY NIGHT...TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY FOR
A POTENTIALLY VERY WET TWO DAYS.

IN THE EXTENDED...A WARM MID LEVEL CAP WILL MOVE ACROSS ARIZONA BY
LATE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY FOR MAINLY SUNNY SKIES AND STORM FREE
CONDITIONS. BEYOND THURSDAY...MOISTURE BOUNDARY REMAINS ACROSS
SOUTHERN ARIZONA WITH A STRONG TROUGH APPROACHING LATE IN THE WEEK.
HAVE PLACED A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR THE NEXT FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY PERIOD AS COMBINATION OF MOISTURE AND TROUGH IN SEPTEMBER
USUALLY MEANS SHOWERS.

.NOTE...EFFECTIVE WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 1 2003...THE TEMPERATURES AND
PROBABILITIES OF PRECIPITATION TABLE (BELOW) WILL NO LONGER BE
APPENDED TO THIS PRODUCT. THE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH PREVAILING
DAYTIME WEATHER...WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE RECENTLY ADOPTED TABULAR
STATE FORECAST (SFT). THE SFT PROVIDES THESE FORECASTS THROUGH 7
DAYS. THE WMO HEADER FOR THIS PRODUCT IS FPUS65 KPSR. THE PRODUCT
IDENTIFIER IS PHXSFTAZ. USING THE INTERNET...YOU CAN ACCESS THE SFT
DIRECTLY AT HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/CGI-BIN/GPRODUCT.PL?FLGPHXSFTAZ

.FGZ...NONE.

.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

CITY             TEMPERATURES LO/HI           PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
                 TON SUN   MON     TUE        TON SUN   MON     TUE
FLAGSTAFF        048/077 047/076 050/071      020 020 010 020 030 040
WINSLOW          061/089 059/088 062/083      010 000 000 000 020 040
PRESCOTT         058/085 058/084 061/079      020 000 000 000 020 040
PAGE             069/091 069/089 072/084      010 000 000 000 010 030
WINDOW ROCK      052/080 050/079 053/074      030 010 000 020 030 040
CANYON DE CHELLY 064/086 062/085 065/080      020 000 000 010 020 030
COTTONWOOD       066/097 066/096 069/091      020 000 000 010 020 030
GRAND CANYON     052/079 051/077 052/072      020 000 000 000 020 030
GREER            047/074 046/073 049/068      030 020 010 020 040 050
HEBER            053/081 052/081 053/076      030 020 010 020 030 040
JACOB LAKE       048/074 047/073 050/068      020 000 000 000 020 030
NAVAJO N.M.      058/078 056/077 059/072      020 000 000 010 020 030
PAYSON           058/091 058/089 061/084      010 000 000 010 020 040
SEDONA           065/094 065/092 068/087      020 010 000 020 020 040
SELIGMAN         056/087 056/086 059/081      010 000 000 000 020 030
SHOW LOW         056/083 055/082 058/077      030 010 000 020 030 040
ST. JOHNS        060/088 058/087 058/082      020 010 000 010 030 040
WUPATKI N.M.     063/091 061/090 064/085      020 010 000 000 020 040
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 6, 10:00 AM MST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
AZZ004>018-037>040-070200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1000 AM MST SAT SEP 6 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A VERY MOIST AIR MASS WILL REMAIN OVER NORTHERN ARIZONA TODAY. AS A
RESULT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED MOST OF THE DAY.
LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER NORTHERN YAVAPAI
AND GILA COUNTIES WHERE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 1
TO 2 INCHES OF RAINFALL IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.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), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Navajo

When
September 6, 3:30 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
Where
Navajo County, Cibecue
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
35.400, -110.321 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash flooding caused Cibeque creek rise 8 to 10 feet in the town of Cibeque.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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 historyWarnings 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: 5337044.