A weak mid level disturbance combined with record heat caused a storm which produced a microburst.
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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.
A weak mid level disturbance combined with record heat caused a storm which produced a microburst.
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 Mar 17, 2:10 PM MST, 4 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 210 PM MST SAT MAR 17 2007 .SYNOPSIS...THE STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE STATE THAT BROUGHT RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES THE LAST FEW DAYS WILL MOVE EAST AND FLATTEN TONIGHT AS A TROUGH PUSHES IN FROM THE EASTERN PACIFIC. BY MID WEEK THE AREA CAN EXPECT GUSTY WINDS WITH AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES DROPPING BACK TO NEAR NORMAL AND THE NEXT POSSIBILITY OF PRECIPITATION. && .DISCUSSION...AT 1035 THIS MORNING TUCSON TOPPED ITS PREVIOUS HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORD OF 88 DEGREES. AS OF 210 TUCSON HAD REACHED 94 DEGREES. FOR OTHER RECORDS THAT FALL TODAY PLEASE REFER TO THE RECORD EVENT REPORT...PHXRERTWC OR WMO HEADER SXUS75 KTWC WHICH WILL BE ISSUED BY 6 PM MST. OTHERWISE...THE RIDGE OVERHEAD WILL BEGIN TO FLATTEN TONIGHT AS A TROUGH MOVES INTO THE WEST COAST. THIS TROUGH IS QUICKLY DEVELOPING INTO A STORM SYSTEM WITH THE MAIN PIECE OF ENERGY LOCATED NEAR 42N 157W...SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. IT WILL PHASE WITH LOW PRESSURE CURRENTLY ANCHORED IN THE GULF OF ALASKA THEN MOVE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST LATE MONDAY. THE TROUGH WILL ENGULF THE WEST COAST ON TUESDAY THEN SLIDE INLAND ON WEDNESDAY. AS IT DOES...IT WILL DIG SOUTHWARD AND BECOME CUT-OFF FROM THE MAIN FLOW DROPPING INTO ARIZONA ON THURSDAY. 500 MB HEIGHTS ARE FORECAST TO SINK TO 546 DM WITH 1000-500MB THICKNESSES DIPPING TO 540 DM. THE RESULTS WILL BE THE POSSIBILITY OF PRECIPITATION WITH SNOW LEVELS FALLING TO AROUND 4000 FEET. THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TROUGH AND ITS STRENGTHENING OVER ARIZONA. HOWEVER...ONCE IT CUTS OFF THE PROGRESSION OF THE LOW VARIES QUITE A BIT. THE OPERATIONAL GFS IS THE MOST PROGRESSIVE...BUT THE ECMWF...CANADIAN...UKMET AND NEARLY ALL OF THE GFS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS ARE SLOW TO EJECT THE SYSTEM. THEREFORE...WILL LEAN TOWARD A SLOWER FORECAST AND HOLD ONTO POPS INTO FRIDAY. && .AVIATION...TAF AND TWEBS ADEQUATELY COVER ALL SIGNIFICANT WEATHER AT KTUS. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && EVANS WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:03 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A microburst brought down seven power poles in Tucson along Irvington Road between Camino Seco and Harrison leaving about 2675 structures without power.
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, March 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: 23800.