A strong area of low pressure over southern Utah brought very strong winds to much of northern Arizona on April 19. The strongest winds were observed from East Flagstaff, into the Little Colorado River Valley, and into the Winslow area.
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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 episode as NWS FGZ wrote it up.
A strong area of low pressure over southern Utah brought very strong winds to much of northern Arizona on April 19. The strongest winds were observed from East Flagstaff, into the Little Colorado River Valley, and into the Winslow area. The highest wind gusts were reported in Leupp (76 MPH), Doney Park (64 MPH), and Winslow (63 MPH). In Winslow, there were some power outages and a trampoline blew into a car. A semi truck and trailer was blown onto its side on I-40 near Winslow. The visibility was below 1/2 mile between Holbrook and Winslow between 4:00 and 5:00 PM.
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 Apr 19, 3:25 AM MST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED DATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF 325 AM MST TUE APR 19 2005 .SYNOPSIS...EXPECT COOLER AND VERY WINDY CONDITIONS TODAY. COOL DAYTIME CONDITIONS ALONG WITH AFTERNOON BREEZES WILL CONTINUE THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. FROM THURSDAY INTO SATURDAY...TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO REBOUND AND WINDS WILL DIMINISH AS HIGH PRESSURE DEVELOPS OVER THE AREA. && .DISCUSSION...A GREAT BASIN LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND AN ATTENDING COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA TODAY. THIS WEATHER SYSTEM AND FRONT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR VERY WIND CONDITIONS AND AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AND SAND...ESPECIALLY EAST OF FLAGSTAFF AND OVER THE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY AND FOUR CORNERS AREA... THE BLOWING DUST AND SAND WILL MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT AT TIMES DUE TO POOR VISIBILITY. SEE PHXNPWFGZ FOR MORE DETAILS. THIS SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO LIFT NORTH LATER ON WEDNESDAY...WHICH WILL HELP BRING AN END TO THE WINDY CONDITIONS. A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY AND WILL CONTINUE OVER THE SOUTHWEST STATES THROUGH SATURDAY. EXPECT WARMER CONDITIONS AND LIGHTER WINDS. ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM CAN BE EXPECTED LATE IN THE WEEKEND...AND EARLY INTO NEXT WEEK. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING WINDY CONDITIONS ONCE AGAIN AND COOLER TEMPERATURES. THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS WITH THIS SYSTEM AS WELL. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST STATES ONCE AGAIN BY TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK...WHICH WILL BRING CALMER WINDS AND A RETURN OF DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE 60 TO 85 DEGREE RANGE. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 8 AM MST THIS MORNING UNTIL 9 PM MST THIS EVENING ZONES: /9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/39/40 WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 AM MST THIS MORNING UNTIL 9 PM MST THIS EVENING ZONES: /17/18 WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM MST THIS MORNING UNTIL 7 PM MST THIS EVENING ZONES: /4/5/6/7/8/37/38 FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR TUESDAY FROM NOON UNTIL 7 PM MST FWX ZONES: /111/113/114/118/137/138/140 &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 520 AM MST TUE APR 19 2005 AZZ004>018-037>040-201400- WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-GRAND CANYON COUNTRY-YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS- YAVAPAI COUNTY VALLEYS AND BASINS-OAK CREEK AND SYCAMORE CANYONS- MARBLE AND GLEN CANYONS-KAIBAB PLATEAU-COCONINO PLATEAU- NORTHEAST PLATEAU AND MESAS HWY 264 NORTHWARD- NORTHEAST PLATEAU AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264- CHINLE VALLEY-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU- BLACK MESA AREA-LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN COCONINO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY- EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-WHITE MOUNTAINS-NORTHERN GILA COUNTY- 510 AM MST TUE APR 19 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY VERY STRONG WINDS TODAY...ESPECIALLY EAST OF FLAGSTAFF...LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY AND THE FOUR CORNERS AREA WHERE THERE WILL BE AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AND SAND DRIVEN BY WIND GUSTS UP AROUND 60 MPH. A GREAT BASIN LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND ATTENDING COLD FRONT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WINDY CONDITIONS TODAY. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF HAS UPGRADED THE WIND ADVISORY TO A HIGH WIND WARNING FROM FLAGSTAFF ON EASTWARD TO THE NEW MEXICO BORDER FROM 800 AM MST TO 900 PM MST THIS EVENING. A WIND ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN COCONINO COUNTY...YAVAPAI COUNTY AND NORTHERN GILA COUNTIES FROM 900 AM MST TO 700 PM MST THIS EVENING. FOR MORE DETAILS ON THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER SITUATION SEE CURRENT HIGH WIND WARNING AND WIND ADVISORY ON THE FLAGSTAFF HOME PAGE WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/FGZ AND THEN CLICK ON TEXT PRODUCTS ON THE LEFT HAND BAR AND THEN TYPE IN THE PRODUCT NAME NPWFGZ. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, April 2005
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: 5443506, 5443507, 5443508.