A small tornado was seen near Big Lake in the White Mountains.
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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 FGZ wrote it up.
A small tornado was seen near Big Lake in the White Mountains.
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 Sep 3, 9:55 AM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 955 AM MST WED SEP 3 2008 .SYNOPSIS...ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM PRESCOTT...TO FLAGSTAFF...TO WINDOW ROCK...WITH SCATTERED ACTIVITY OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. MOSTLY CLEAR AND DRY CONDITIONS WITH SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES WILL RETURN FOR THURSDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...AT 930 AM...SKIES WERE MOSTLY SUNNY ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA. DEWPOINTS WERE IN THE UPPER 40S TO LOW 50S SOUTH OF A COTTONWOOD...TO FLAGSTAFF...TO WINDOW ROCK LINE. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...ASSOCIATED WITH A TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ROCKIES WAS CAUSING MUCH DRIER AIR TO FILTER INTO AREAS NORTH OF THE MOGOLLON RIM. THE MID LEVEL CAPPING INVERSION THAT SUPPRESSED CONVECTION TUESDAY HAS ERODED. THIS SHOULD ALLOW SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WHITE MTNS AND EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM...WITH ISOLATED STORMS NORTH AND WEST TO THE PRESCOTT... FLAGSTAFF AND WINDOW ROCK AREAS...PROVIDED THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE LINGERS. FORECASTS HAVE BEEN UPDATED TO INCREASE PRECIP CHANCES FOR THIS AFTERNOON. FROM THURSDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND...A DRY NORTHWEST FLOW WILL DEVELOP AS SHORTWAVE TROUGHS CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ROCKIES. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR...ALTHOUGH OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL BE COOL DUE TO THE DRY AIR MASS. BY EARLY NEXT WEEK...FORECAST MODELS SUGGEST A WEAK UPPER LOW WILL DEVELOP TO OUR WEST...WHICH WOULD SHIFT OUR FLOW BACK TO THE SOUTH OR SOUTHWEST. THIS PATTERN COULD BRING INCREASING MOISTURE AND A RETURN TO AT LEAST A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 18Z PACKAGE...VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED NORTH OF A KRQE TO KFLG TO KPRC LINE FOR THE FORECAST PERIOD...EXCEPT WDLY SCT TO SCT -TSRA AND MVFR PSBL OVER PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN RIM AND WHITE MTNS BTWN 18-03Z. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...SEE FIRE WEATHER FORECAST (FWFFGZ) FOR DISCUSSION OF DAYS 1 AND 2. FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...A DRY WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH THE PERIOD. LITTLE OR NO PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED ACROSS NRN AZ THROUGH THIS TIME PERIOD. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC...............JJ AVIATION/FIRE WX.....TC VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 1006 AM MST WED SEP 3 2008 AZZ008-011>018-037-038-040300- YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN COCONINO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY- WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-WHITE MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN GILA COUNTY-YAVAPAI COUNTY VALLEYS AND BASINS- OAK CREEK AND SYCAMORE CANYONS- 1006 AM MST WED SEP 3 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL ARIZONA...NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA...NORTHEAST ARIZONA AND WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON FROM THE EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM TO THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ELSEWHERE ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A DRY AND STABLE AIR MASS WILL DEVELOP THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN NEXT WEEK.
The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 186 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:03 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A small tornado was observed near Big Lake in the White Mountains.
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, September 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: 136177.