An isolated severe thunderstorm developed along the leading edge of an upper level low pressure approaching Arizona.
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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 TWC wrote it up.
An isolated severe thunderstorm developed along the leading edge of an upper level low pressure approaching Arizona.
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 27, 8:45 PM MST, 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 845 PM MST WED DEC 27 2006 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY...BRINGING VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS ALONG WITH MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE EAST OF THE STATE FRIDAY NIGHT WITH A RETURN TO COLD OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES THIS WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL RETURN OVER THE AREA LATE IN THE WEEKEND INTO NEW YEARS DAY...FOR DRY WEATHER WITH A GRADUAL WARMING TREND. && .DISCUSSION...LOW NOW PUSHING INTO WESTERN ARIZONA WITH FIRST STRONG IMPULSE ROTATING UNDER AND AHEAD OF THE LOW INTO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA THIS EVENING. SNOW LEVELS IN THE 8K TO 9K FT RANGE BUT STEADILY FALLING NOW WITH THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE MOISTENING UP. ISOLATED LIGHTNING STRIKES TO GO ALONG WITH THE SCATTERED SHOWER ACTIVITY MOVING IN...SO WE UPDATED FOR THAT. OTHERWISE EXPECT THIS FIRST IMPULSE TO FURTHER ENHANCE SHOWER COVERAGE AND INTENSITY TONIGHT WITH SNOW LEVELS FALLING PAST 5K FEET BEFORE SUNRISE AND A SNOW ADVISORY LOOKING GOOD ABOVE 5K FEET THURSDAY. WRAP AROUND AND ENERGY CONTINUING TO CARVE DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE LOW EVEN AS IT EXITS INTO NEW MEXICO WILL LIKELY SUSTAIN SHOWERS INTO FRIDAY FOR EASTERN AREAS...AND MAY SEE AN EXTENSION OF THE SNOW ADVISORY AND EVEN AN UPGRADE TO HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SYSTEM IS DONE WITH US. && .PREV DISCUSSION...I HAVE UPGRADED THE WINTER STORM WATCH TO SNOW ADVISORY AND EXPANDED IT TO COVER ALL THE HIGHER TERRAIN FROM TUCSON EAST. SNOW AMOUNTS WILL VARY WITH AMOUNTS ABOVE 5000 FEET BETWEEN 6 AND 12 INCHES. THE HARD PART OF THE FORECAST IS THE POTENTIAL FOR VALLEY LOCATIONS...ESPECIALLY SOUTH AND EAST OF TUCSON...TO GET SOME ACCUMULATION (LESS THAN AN INCH OR TWO) WHICH WOULD PUT THOSE AREAS IN WARMING CRITERIA. THE CONVECTIVE NATURE OF THE SYSTEM...AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSNOW...MAKES FORECASTING SNOW AT THE LOWER ELEVATIONS DIFFICULT. THURSDAY WILL BE A CHILLY GRAY SHOWERY DAY WITH HIGHS THURSDAY 15 TO 25 DEGREES COLDER THAN WEDNESDAY. SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL START TO SUBSIDE THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY AS THE SYSTEM MOVES INTO NEW MEXICO. HOWEVER...WILL HAVE TO WATCH WRAP AROUND MOISTURE AND DISTURBANCES MOVING DOWN BACK SIDE OF LOW. THUS HAVE KEPT SOME TOKEN POPS INTO FRIDAY MORNING IN THE EASTERN ZONES. LITTLE RECOVERY IN HIGH TEMPERATURES FRIDAY. FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING WILL BE COLD AND COMBINED WITH SURFACE MOISTURE...FROST WILL LIKELY DEVELOP...AND IT MAY BE WIDESPREAD ENOUGH FOR A WARNING TO BE POSTED. STILL PLENTY OF TIME TO DEAL WITH THIS ASPECT OF THE FORECAST. THE WEEKEND LOOKS DRY AS UPPER RIDGE STARTS TO BUILD OVER THE AREA RESULTING IN A GRADUAL WARM-UP IN TEMPERATURES. AS THE CALENDAR TURNS TO 2007...THE RIDGE WILL BE PUSHED ON EAST WITH ANOTHER STORM MOVING TOWARD THE DESERT SOUTHWEST. FOR NOW WILL KEEP IT DRY WITH SEASONAL TEMPERATURES. && .AVIATION...CLOUD DECKS ARE EXPECTED TO LOWER OVERNIGHT AS A STORM SYSTEM ENTERS THE STATE. MVFR CONDITIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED FOR ALL TAF SITES UNTIL AFTER 08Z AS THE CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION INCREASES OVER THE FORECAST AREA. TAFS AND TWEBS ADEQUATELY COVER ALL SIGNIFICANT WEATHER AT KTUS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SNOW ADVISORY MIDNIGHT THROUGH 5 PM THURSDAY FOR PUBLIC ZONES AZZ019-030-033>035 ABOVE 5000 FEET. && WWW.WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 335 PM MST WED DEC 27 2006 AZZ030-033>035-281400- UPPER GILA RIVER VALLEY-TUCSON METRO/MARANA/GREEN VALLEY-SANTA CRUZ COUNTY-COCHISE COUNTY- 335 PM MST WED DEC 27 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. ...SNOW ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH 5 PM THURSDAY ABOVE 5000 FEET... .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO ARIZONA TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP WIDESPREAD VALLEY SHOWERS AND MOUNTAINS SNOW SHOWERS...MAINLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL LOWER TO 4500 FEET LATER TONIGHT AS THE SYSTEM MOVES IN WITH SOME ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE BY MORNING ABOVE 5000 FEET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE IMPACT OF THIS STRONG SYSTEM WILL BE FELT ON THURSDAY RESULTING IN VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW ALONG WITH A SIGNIFICANT COOL DOWN IN TEMPERATURES. SNOW LEVELS WILL FALL TO 4000 TO 4500 FEET THURSDAY MORNING WITH SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO 1 INCH IN THE VALLEYS...AND 4 TO 8 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS. TOTAL ACCUMULATION BY FRIDAY MORNING ABOVE 5000 FEET WILL BE 5 TO 10 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. AZZ019-281400- NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY- 335 PM MST WED DEC 27 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY. ...SNOW ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH 5 PM THURSDAY... .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO ARIZONA TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP WIDESPREAD SNOW SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH A COUPLE OF INCHES OF ACCUMULATION BY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY OCCASIONAL SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON BEFORE TAPERING OFF TO SNOW SHOWERS AS THE STORM SYSTEM MOVES INTO NEW MEXICO THURSDAY NIGHT. AN ADDITIONAL 4 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED BY THURSDAY EVENING WITH TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 5 TO 10 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY WITH LITTLE ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 37 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:53 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A microburst caused power lines to be knocked down and damaged a shed in Kinney Estates.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, December 2006
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: 4663.