An upper level low pressure moved across Southeast Arizona with enough moisture and instability to cause high based thunderstorms to develop.
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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 upper level low pressure moved across Southeast Arizona with enough moisture and instability to cause high based thunderstorms to develop.
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 May 8, 1:45 PM MST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 145 PM MST TUE MAY 8 2007 .SYNOPSIS...UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM NEAR SOUTHEAST ARIZONA WILL CONTINUE BRING A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE EAST OF THE AREA WEDNESDAY WITH STRONG HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE AREA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN A WARMING TREND WHICH WILL PEAK LATE IN THE WEEK WITH THE WARMEST TEMPERATURES THUS FAR FOR 2007. && .DISCUSSION...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED CONVECTION MAINLY TERRAIN ENHANCED AT THIS POINT THROUGH LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. UPPER LOW COMBINED WITH PLENTY OF SUNSHINE AND SUFFICIENT MOISTURE FOR IT TO HELP FOCUS MAINLY DRY HIGH BASED CONVECTION AGAIN TODAY. MAIN CONCERN WILL BE DRY MICROBURST STYLE WINDS AND LOCALIZED BLOWING DUST WITH OUTFLOWS AS LOWER LEVELS STILL NOT TERRIBLY MOIST...WITH ISOLATED AREAS OF MODERATE RAINFALL. EARLY EVENING HOURS WILL SEE A BETTER CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN SOME VALLEY LOCATIONS BEFORE CONVECTION DIMINISHES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF NORMAL DIURNAL STABILIZATION AND THE WEAK SUBSIDENCE BEHIND THE LOW. LOW WILL SHIFT EASTWARD AND OUT OF THE STATE TONIGHT WITH A RIDGE PHASING IN FROM THE WEST. STILL ENOUGH RESIDUAL MOISTURE WEDNESDAY FOR BUILDUPS IN THE MOUNTAINS NEAR THE NEW MEXICO BORDER...BUT OTHERWISE EXPECT A DRYING TREND IN A WESTERLY TO NORTHWESTERLY FLOW. AS THE STRONG RIDGE BUILDS IN...HEIGHT AND THICKNESS INCREASES WILL YIELD THE WARMEST TEMPERATURES OF THE YEAR SO FAR BY LATER IN THE WEEK AND EARLY WEEKEND. && .FIRE WEATHER...AN UPPER LOW NEAR FAR SOUTHEAST ARIZONA WILL BRING A FEW MAINLY DRY THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA...MAINLY FROM NEAR TUCSON EASTWARD. STRONG...GUSTY AND ERRATIC WINDS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE NEAR ANY THUNDERSTORMS...ALTHOUGH LITTLE MOISTURE WILL REACH THE SURFACE IN MOST PLACES. BEHIND THIS SYSTEM...UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE REGION FOR A RETURN TO DRY CONDITIONS AND A STRONG WARMING TREND. && .AVIATION...LOW NEARBY WILL ONCE AGAIN HELP TRIGGER CONVECTION TODAY. EXPECT EASTERN AREAS WILL HAVE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED CBS OF AROUND 10K AGL...AND A FEW GUSTS TO NEAR 45 KTS NEAR TSTMS. VISIBILITIES WILL BE LOWERED BRIEFLY TO 2SM IN BLDU OR MODERATE RAINFALL. MOST OF THE TSTM ACTIVITY WILL DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF OR TWEB AMENDMENTS. && .CLIMATE...AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN OVER THE AREA AFTER TODAY THE LOW DESERTS WILL HEAT UP INTO THE 99 TO 104 DEGREE RANGE. THIS PUTS THE TUCSON AREA ON THE FIRST 100 DEGREE DAY WATCH WITH THE BEST SHOT BEING THURSDAY INTO SATURDAY PERIOD. FOR A LISTING OF AVERAGE DATES OF FIRST 100 DEGREES OR BETTER ACROSS SE ARIZONA GO TO OUR WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/TWC/CLIMATE/1ST100DATES.PHP && WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 618 AM MST TUE MAY 8 2007 AZZ029-030-033>035-091400- SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY-UPPER GILA RIVER VALLEY- TUCSON METRO/MARANA/GREEN VALLEY-SANTA CRUZ COUNTY-COCHISE COUNTY- 618 AM MST TUE MAY 8 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT SOUTHEAST ARIZONA TODAY AND DEVELOP ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO ACROSS THE AREA IN A MARGINALLY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. MOST OF THE MOISTURE RESIDES IN THE MID-LEVELS WITH THE LOW LEVELS STILL ON THE DRY SIDE. ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON WILL PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...SOME OF WHICH COULD BE DAMAGING...ALONG WITH AREAS OF BLOWING DUST. ALTHOUGH THE ATMOSPHERE HAS MORE MOISTURE THAN MONDAY DRY LIGHTNING IS STILL A CONCERN TODAY. ACTIVITY WILL BE DIMINISHING THIS EVENING AFTER THE SUNSET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:57 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A telephone pole was knocked down due to outflow winds along Highway 70. Numerous tree limbs were also broken from Thatcher to Safford to San Jose on Highway 70.
Visibilities were reduced to less than one quarter of a mile near Eloy due to blowing dust. This contributed to a vehicular accident with injury.
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, May 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: 26233, 26234.