Unusual heat for so early in the season, together with increased moisture, resulted in widespread light showers, very strong winds and areas of dense blowing dust and sand.
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 PSR wrote it up.
Unusual heat for so early in the season, together with increased moisture, resulted in widespread light showers, very strong winds and areas of dense blowing dust and sand.
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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 28, 3:00 PM MST, 0 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-290600- AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 300 PM MST SAT APR 28 2007 SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION .SYNOPSIS... A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER NORTHERN MEXICO WILL MOVE SLOWLY TO THE NORTHEAST...WITH INCREASING MOISTURE ACROSS OUR AREA TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. THE ADDITIONAL MOISTURE WILL MEAN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA TONIGHT...AND THROUGH SUNDAY. MONDAY AND TUESDAY WILL BE MOSTLY SUNNY WITH TEMPERATURES REMAINING ABOVE NORMAL. A SLIGHT COOLING TREND IS LIKELY WITH DRY WEATHER THE REST OF THE WEEK. && .SHORT TERM... TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... LOW AND MID LEVEL WINDS FROM THE SOUTHEAST HAVE PICKED UP TODAY AND SHOULD REMAIN SOUTHEASTERLY THIS EVENING. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO ADVECT ADDITIONAL MOISTURE ACROSS THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA. AT LEAST ONE BAND OF CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE DRIFTING TOWARD THE WEST THIS EVENING...WITH TYPICAL INVERTED-V TYPE SOUNDINGS. HAVE INSERTED SOME PATCHY BLOWING DUST INTO ZONE 28 FOR THIS EVENING ON TOP OF THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS THERE. THE GLOBE RAWS SITE HAD A DEW POINT OF 32F AND KIWA REPORTED A 36F AT MID DAY. MODELS AGREE ON KICKING THE CLOSED LOW TO THE NORTHEAST AND SHOWING THE CENTER OF THE SYSTEM NEAR EL PASO BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THE FLOW ALOFT SHOULD ALLOW SOME CONVECTION TO DRIFT OFF THE RIM AND AFFECT AREAS TO THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST OF PHOENIX ON SUNDAY EVENING. TEMPERATURES HAVE CONTINUED TO CLIMB AND SHOULD TOP OUT NEAR 100 IN THE PHOENIX AREA TODAY...AND WITH MORE CLOUD COVER SUNDAY...TEMPS SHOULD BE SOMEWHAT LOWER. && .LONG TERM... TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY... EARLY IN THE EXTENDED...THERE CONTINUES TO BE MODEL DISAGREEMENT ON TIMING OF MINOR SOUTHERN BRANCH TROUGH. ECMWF AND CANADIAN ARE FASTER THAN OPERATIONAL GFS AND GFS ENSEMBLE MEAN. TAKING A BLENDED APPROACH...LEFT TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY SKY AND TEMPS AS IS...HOLDING OFF ON INTRODUCING SLIGHT CHANCE POPS. THERE IS MODEL AGREEMENT ON SHORT-LIVED RIDGING THURSDAY BEFORE QUICKLY FLATTENING OUT IN RESPONSE TO A LARGE TROUGH MOVING INTO THE WESTERN STATES. BY FRIDAY THERE IS QUITE A BIT OF MODEL DISAGREEMENT ON THE EVOLUTION OF THAT TROUGH. 12Z OPERATIONAL GFS KEEPS THE BRUNT OF IT NORTH OF ARIZONA WHEREAS THE ENSEMBLE MEAN SHOWS DEEPER TROUGHING. MEANWHILE...THE 00Z ECMWF AND 12Z CANADIAN SHOW A DEEP CLOSED LOW OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. THERE HAS BEEN VERY POOR RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY DURING THIS TIMEFRAME FOR THE OPERATIONAL GFS. A PREPONDERANCE OF THE MODEL GUIDANCE SEEMS TO INDICATE A COOLING TREND FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AND THIS IS REFLECTED IN THE FORECAST. NOT ENOUGH TO GO ON IN ORDER TO BEGIN MENTIONING POPS. && .AVIATION... FOR KPHX...KIWA...AND SURROUNDING VALLEY AIRFIELDS EXPECT ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT. BRIEF RAIN AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 KTS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS. LARGER AREAS OF 30-35KT WINDS AND LOCAL VISIBILITIES BELOW ONE MILE IN BLOWING DUST WILL AFFECT MUCH OF PHOENIX METRO AREA BETWEEN 22Z-02Z...ESPECIALLY EASTERN PORTIONS. A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. WINDS TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING WILL BE PREDOMINATELY FROM THE SOUTH-SOUTHEAST. CEILINGS SHOULD REMAIN AT OR ABOVE 10 KFT...BUT MAY BRIEFLY DROP TO 6-8 KFT DURING RAIN. CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE MARKEDLY SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. FOR KIPL...KBLH...AND KYUM...EXPECT CLEAR AND DRY CONDITIONS WITH ONLY A FEW AFTERNOON FAIR WEATHER CUMULUS. SEE TAFS PHXTAFPHX...PHXTAFIWA...PHXTAFYUM...LAXTAFBLH AND LAXTAFIPL FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION. AVIATION DISCUSSION IS NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDED TAFS. && .FIRE WEATHER... UNDER SUNNY SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS...VERY WARM TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON RESULTED IN RELATIVE HUMIDITIES DROPPING INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS AT NUMEROUS DESERT SITES. LITTLE MOISTURE RECOVERY IS EXPECTED OVERNIGHT. HOWEVER...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA ARE MOVING WEST-NORTHWEST AND WILL AFFECT PORTIONS OF ARIZONA FIRE WEATHER ZONES 133 AND THE EXTREME EASTERN HALF OF ZONE 132 THROUGH SUNDAY. MOISTURE VALUES WILL BE HIGHER IN THESE AREAS....BUT DRY LIGHTNING AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE A CONCERN WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS. CLEAR AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL RETURN MONDAY REGION-WIDE. FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD...A STRONG WEATHER DISTURBANCE MAY AFFECT THE REGION BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK WITH GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY. && .PSR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX IS ON THE INTERNET AT WEATHER.GOV/PHOENIX 10/17/07
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 542 AM MST SAT APR 28 2007 AZZ022>024-027-028-291245- NORTHWEST MARICOPA COUNTY-GREATER PHOENIX AREA- SOUTHERN GILA/TONTO NF FOOTHILLS-SOUTHWEST MARICOPA COUNTY- NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY- 542 AM MST SAT APR 28 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST-CENTRAL ARIZONA AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN MEXICO THIS WEEKEND...BRINGING SUFFICIENT MOISTURE INTO THE REGION FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY. LITTLE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. HOWEVER...STRONG GUSTY OUTFLOW WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT...WITH WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE NEAR STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA INTO NEW MEXICO LATE SATURDAY NIGHT...INCREASING THE CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL DESERTS...INCLUDING THE PHOENIX METRO AREA...ALL DAY SUNDAY. LITTLE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED FROM THESE STORMS. HOWEVER...STRONG GUSTY OUTFLOW WINDS OF UP TO 40 MPH AND AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS. REDUCED VISIBILITY IN BLOWING DUST COULD CREATE HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS FOR MOTORISTS...ESPECIALLY ON INTERSTATE 10 FROM PHOENIX TO CASA GRANDE...AND WEST TO TONOPAH. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL DIMINISH AND MOVE OUT OF THE AREA LATE SUNDAY...LEADING TO CLEARING SKIES AND DRIER WEATHER MONDAY. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MEYERS
1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A major dust storm with visibility less than 1/4 mile in spots, along with winds of 40 to 50 mph, moved quickly across the Phoenix metropolitan area during the afternoon. Trees were knocked over, power outages were reported, and flight delays affected Sky Harbor airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, April 2007
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: 19468.