Strong Wind in Arizona, December 14 to 15, 2004

Name: Strong Wind in Arizona, December 14 to 15, 2004
Start: 2004-12-14T09:00
End: 2004-12-15T17:00
Location: Arizona

December 14 to 15, 2004 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 strong wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 1
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 Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 14, 2:40 AM MST, 6 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 14, 2:40 AM MST, 6 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
240 AM MST TUE DEC 14 2004

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION

.SYNOPSIS...THE RECENT NEAR RECORD WARMTH WILL COME TO AN END TODAY
AS A COLD FRONT MOVES WEST FROM NEW MEXICO INTO ARIZONA. THE FRONT
WILL BRING GUSTY EAST WINDS AND COOLER TEMPERATURES...ALTHOUGH HIGHS
WILL STILL BE A FEW DEGREES ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. A SECOND LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL THEN DROP OUT OF THE NORTHERN ROCKIES AND INTO
ARIZONA BY FRIDAY...BRINGING WITH IT SOME ADDITIONAL COOLING AND
BREEZINESS. TEMPERATURES WILL REBOUND OVER THE WEEKEND AS WEAK HIGH
PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE AREA FROM THE SOUTH.
&&

.DISCUSSION...THE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM THAT BROUGHT RECORD TO NEAR
RECORD WARMTH TO THE AREA OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS WILL BE GIVING
WAY THIS WEEK TO DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE. THIS WILL LEAD TO A
COOLING TREND INTO FRIDAY THEN TEMPERATURES WILL START TO WARM AS
THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM RETROGRADES WEST OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND
NORTHERN BAJA COASTS. MOISTURE IS RATHER LIMITED AND SHALLOW WITH
THIS SYSTEM AND THE MODELS ARE COMING IN DRIER AND DRIER. THUS HAVE
CUT BACK POPS STARTING THURSDAY AND INTO THE EARLY PART OF THE
WEEKEND AND MOSTLY CONFINED THEN TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN. THE
REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD LOOKS DRY BUT THAT IS DEPENDENT ON
EVENTUAL RETURN OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM. CONFIDENCE LOW ON TRACK
EARLY NEXT WEEK.

IN THE SHORT TERM...LOW LEVEL PRESSURE GRADIENT CONTINUES TO TIGHTEN
OVER THE AREA IN RESPONSE TO SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE MOVING INTO THE
SOUTHERN PLAINS...WHICH WILL PUSH WEAKENING BACK DOOR FRONT INTO THE
EASTERN ZONES. THIS IS WHERE MOST OF THE COOLING WILL TAKE PLACE
TODAY WITH SOME LOCALS SEEING 24 HOURS TEMPERATURE CHANGES FROM 8 TO
15 DEGREES. BREEZY TO LOCALLY WINDY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL TODAY
BEFORE GRADIENT RELAXES ON WEDNESDAY BUT THEN INCREASES AGAIN ON
THURSDAY AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN.

&&

.TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.
&&

JRG

Event by event

1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, E Pima

When: December 14, 9:00 AM MST to December 15, 5:00 PM MST
Where: E Pima forecast zone
Measured: 33 kt (38 mph) measured gust
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

A man working at the Green Valley Pecan Company in Sahuarita was killed around 2:45 pm when he was crushed by large containers knocked over by wind gusts. The wind blew over a stack of four empty containers weighing about 200 pounds each. The Tucson ASOS (~13 miles from incedent) reported 21G26 mph wind speed at 2:55 pm, while the Nogales ASOS (~32 miles away) reported an 8 mph wind at 2:50 pm. The peak wind at the Tucson airport was 38 mph, and the peak wind at the Nogales airport was 23 mph for the day.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Strong Wind, E Pima	2004-12-14	64	Male	Business	Direct

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arizona in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, December 2004

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: 5428621.