An area of low pressure moving across southern Arizona triggered a thunderstorm that produced a tornado in southern Yavapai County.
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The episode as NWS FGZ wrote it up.
An area of low pressure moving across southern Arizona triggered a thunderstorm that produced a tornado in southern Yavapai County.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 6, 9:55 AM MST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 955 AM MST TUE MAY 6 2008 .SYNOPSIS...AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN ARIZONA TODAY...BRINGING AN INCREASE IN CLOUDS...COOLER AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES...AND WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. DRIER AND BREEZY WEATHER WILL RETURN WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...WITH TEMPERATURES RETURNING TO NEAR NORMAL. && .DISCUSSION...VERY LIGHT SHOWERS AND ISOLATED LIGHTNING STRIKES HAVE BEGUN ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA THIS MORNING...AS A LOW PRESSURE CENTER IS SHIFTING EASTWARD OVER FAR SOUTHERN ARIZONA. THE INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE ADVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE WILL ALLOW FOR CONTINUED CONVECTION THROUGH THE DAY TODAY. PRECIPITATION REACHING THE SURFACE WITH MANY OF TODAYS STORMS COULD BE RATHER MINIMAL...SO THE THREAT FOR NEW LIGHTNING CAUSED WILDFIRE-STARTS COULD CERTAINLY BE A RISK. IN ADDITION...WINDS NEAR THE STRONGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY BE ERRATIC AND GUSTY DURING THE DAY. THE LOW PRESSURE WILL PUSH EAST OF THE STATE LATE TONIGHT...WITH INCREASING PRESSURE HEIGHTS FILLING BACK INTO ARIZONA. A SECONDARY TROUGH MAY BRUSH THE FAR NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE STATE FOR WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT...BUT THE MAJORITY OF ANY MOISTURE IS ANTICIPATED TO REMAIN NORTH OF THE UTAH BORDER. REGARDLESS...AFTERNOON TEMPS SHOULD REBOUND TO NEAR NORMAL LEVELS AFTER THE BRISK CONDITIONS EXPECTED TODAY. NO MAJOR SYNOPTICALLY-SIGNIFICANT FEATURES ARE THEN FORESEEN FOR MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED FORECAST...AND WE WILL KEEP WITH A FORECAST OF TEMPERATURES NEAR-TO-SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL WITH DRY CONDITIONS AND AFTERNOON BREEZES. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 18Z PACKAGE...EXPECT WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY...AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS SOUTHERN ARIZONA. SHOWERS WILL BE HIGH-BASED WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING LOCAL WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH. OTHERWISE...EXPECT PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES...LIGHT WINDS AND VFR CONDITIONS OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...SEE FIRE WEATHER FORECAST (FWFFGZ) FOR DISCUSSION OF DAYS 1 AND 2. FOR THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR SEASONABLE LEVELS AND MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL GRADUALLY DROP FROM THE UPPER TEENS TO THE LOWER TEENS. EXPECT BREEZY SOUTHWEST WINDS EACH AFTERNOON. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC...KD AVIATION/FIRE WEATHER...DDV VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF FOR MORE NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION.
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:16 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter reported a clear touchdown of a tornado in southern Yavapai County about 10 miles southeast of Congress.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arizona, 2008Warnings in Arizona, May 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: 95730.