An area of showers and thunderstorms developed early in the morning in the vicinity of a low pressure system aloft. This produced areas of flash flooding especially in the Tucson metro 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 TWC wrote it up.
An area of showers and thunderstorms developed early in the morning in the vicinity of a low pressure system aloft. This produced areas of flash flooding especially in the Tucson metro area.
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 Jul 11, 1:50 AM MST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 150 AM MST FRI JUL 11 2008 .SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER SOUTHWEST ARIZONA WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY THROUGH SATURDAY. WITH SIGNIFICANT MONSOON MOISTURE IN PLACE...NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED...SOME OF WHICH WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN. DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW NORMAL UNDER WIDESPREAD CLOUD COVER. A DECREASE IN ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED FOR THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE EAST. && .DISCUSSION...A VERY MOIST ATMOSPHERE ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CURRENTLY WITH LATEST GPW IPW STATION READINGS SHOWING PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES OF ABOUT 2 INCHES FOR A GOOD PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA INCLUDING TUCSON. CURRENT IR SATELLITE IMAGERY AND WV IMAGERY DEPICTS A SLOWLY DECAYING MCS OVER CENTRAL ARIZONA AND A MID/UPPER LEVEL LOW ACROSS SOUTHWEST ARIZONA WHICH IS EXHIBITING A SLIGHT WESTWARD DRIFT IN THE PAST FEW HOURS. SHOWER ACTIVITY HAS PICKED UP OVER THE LAST FEW HOURS ACROSS THIS FORECAST AREA MAINLY NORTH AND WEST OF A LINE FROM CLIFTON TO SASABE. EXPECTATION IS THAT THIS SHOWER ACTIVITY WITH BRIEF BUT LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING AS WEAK DISTURBANCES ALOFT PROPAGATE THROUGH. MOISTURE LEVELS ARE PROGGED TO REMAIN QUITE HIGH TODAY WHICH COMBINED WITH STORM MOTIONS LESS THAN 10 MPH WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWER ACTIVITY. GIVEN THE DEEP MOISTURE PROFILE IT WONT TAKE MUCH SUNSHINE TO REALLY GET SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY GOING THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE AN ABUNDANCE OF CLOUDINESS WITH LIMITED BREAKS. THE POTENTIAL IS CERTAINLY THERE FOR FLASH FLOODING GIVEN SOME SUNSHINE TO RAMP UP CONVECTION BUT AT THIS TIME CONFIDENCE REMAINS LOW AND IF WE REMAIN CLOUDY...THEN THE ACTIVITY WILL BE MORE LIKE WHAT WE SAW THURSDAY. WITH THAT SAID...WILL NOT ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY ON THIS SHIFT. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN RATHER COOL AGAIN WITH HIGHS ABOUT 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL TODAY. MID/UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL REMAIN QUASI-STATIONARY OVER THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY SATURDAY WITH PLENTY OF MOISTURE STILL IN PLACE ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA...ALONG WITH A STEERING FLOW FROM THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST. THUS EXPECTING THE ABOVE AVERAGE MONSOON PATTERN TO PERSIST INTO SATURDAY. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT IS PROGGED TO GRADUALLY BUILD IN FROM THE EAST AS THE DISTURBANCE TO OUR WEST SHEARS OUT BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. THUS EXPECTING A RETURN TO A MORE STANDARD MONSOON PATTERN FOR MID JULY WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING TO NEAR NORMAL VALUES. && .AVIATION...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO SATURDAY. CLOUD DECKS WILL GENERALLY BE 5-7KFT AGL... THOUGH LOWER IN HEAVY RAIN. VISIBILITIES AT TIMES WITH HEAVY RAIN AS LOW AS 1 MILE WITH MOUNTAINS OBSCURED. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...AN UNSETTLED PERIOD WILL CONTINUE INTO SATURDAY AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM APPROACHES THE AREA FROM BAJA. THIS SYSTEM IN COMBINATION WITH AMPLE MOISTURE WILL RESULT IN WIDESPREAD WETTING RAINS AS WELL AS VERY HIGH OVERNIGHT HUMIDITIES. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY STARTING SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 328 AM MST FRI JUL 11 2008 AZZ019-029>035-120000- NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY-SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY- UPPER GILA RIVER VALLEY-WESTERN PIMA COUNTY-TOHONO OODHAM NATION- TUCSON METRO/MARANA/GREEN VALLEY-SANTA CRUZ COUNTY-COCHISE COUNTY- 328 AM MST FRI JUL 11 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN...WILL ROTATE AROUND A NEARLY STATIONARY LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER SOUTHWEST ARIZONA TODAY. IF THERE IS ANY CLEARING TODAY... CONDITIONS WILL QUICKLY BECOME FAVORABLE FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING RAINFALL RATES OF 2 INCHES PER HOUR. DEPENDING ON HOW FAST THE RAIN FALLS...AND HOW MUCH SPACING THERE IS BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL SHOWERS AND STORMS...SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOODING IS A POSSIBILITY ALONG WITH ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING. RESIDENTS ACROSS THE AREA SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS...AND TAKE ACTION IF ADVISORIES...WATCHES OR WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE PATTERN WILL REMAIN ACTIVE WITH PLENTY OF MOISTURE INTO SATURDAY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WHICH COULD PRODUCE SOME HEAVY RAINFALL AND THE POSSIBILITY OF FLASH FLOODING. AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE EAST EARLY NEXT WEEK...A MORE STANDARD MONSOON PATTERN IS EXPECTED WITH SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:00 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A swift water rescue occurred at the CDO Wash and Overton Road.
Motorist stranded in flooded road near Beverly Road and 29th Street in Tucson.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, July 2008
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: 101623, 101624.