A weakening pacific storm system moved into Southeast Arizona resulting in scattered showers with a couple of embedded thunderstorms.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 weakening pacific storm system moved into Southeast Arizona resulting in scattered showers with a couple of embedded thunderstorms.
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 Feb 16, 2:40 PM MST, 5 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 240 PM MST MON FEB 16 2009 .SYNOPSIS...A WEAKENING STORM SYSTEM FROM THE EASTERN PACIFIC WILL AFFECT SOUTHEAST ARIZONA TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE OF VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW...MAINLY WEST AND NORTH OF TUCSON. A STRONG WARMING TREND IS EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST. && .DISCUSSION...A LOT MORE SUN THAN EARLIER FORECAST WHICH HAS ALLOWED FOR A BIT MORE WIND ACROSS THE AREA. TEMPERATURES ARE RUNNING 5 TO 13 DEGREES WARMER THAN SUNDAY WHILE DEWPOINTS HAVE CRASHED TO BELOW ZERO...ESPECIALLY ACROSS EASTERN PIMA/SANTA CRUZ/COCHISE COUNTIES. NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH MARINE LAYER MOISTURE BREAKING THROUGH THE SO CAL MOUNTAINS AND PUSHING INTO THE DESERT AREAS OF SE CALIFORNIA. AS THIS SYSTEM PUSHES EAST...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BE ON THE INCREASE WEST AND NORTH OF TUCSON THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. INCREASING DYNAMICS ALOFT ALONG WITH GOOD UPSLOPE FLOW WILL BRING A GOOD CHANCE OF SHOWERS NORTH OF TUCSON WITH SNOW ABOVE 5500 FEET MAINLY LATE TONIGHT INTO MID MORNING TUESDAY. IN COORDINATION WITH FLAGSTAFF OFFICE...I WILL HOIST A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE WHITES AND FAR NORTHERN GRAHAM COUNTY WITH SNOW AMOUNTS ON THE LOW END OF ADVISORY CRITERIA (3 TO 7 INCHES). PRIME TIME FOR THE ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL BE BETWEEN 2 AM AND 10 AM TUESDAY. WILL HAVE THE ADVISORY GO IN EFFECT AT MIDNIGHT AND CONTINUE UNTIL 12 NOON TUESDAY. WESTERN PIMA/SOUTHEAST PINAL AND NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTIES WILL HAVE THE BEST SHOT OF SEEING OVER A TENTH OF AN INCH OF RAIN. SINCE THE BEST DYNAMICS WILL BE NORTH AND WEST OF TUCSON...SANTA CRUZ/COCHISE AND EASTERN PIMA COUNTY WONT GET MUCH. I HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT TIMING CHANGES TO THE TONIGHT/OVERNIGHT FORECAST DUE TO CURRENT TRENDS AND MODEL OUTPUT. AFTER THIS SYSTEM PUSHES THROUGH TUESDAY...THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK INTO THE EARLY PART OF THE WEEKEND WILL BE DOMINATED BY BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT. THIS WILL PROVIDE A NICE WARMUP WITH THE LOW DESERTS NEARING 80 SATURDAY. A BIT MORE CLOUDS AND COOLER TEMPERATURES LATE INTO THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AS STORM OFF THE COAST KNOCKS DOWN RIDGE. ANY CHANCES OF RAIN THEN WILL REMAIN WELL TO OUR WEST AND NORTH. && .FIRE WEATHER...RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES THIS AFTERNOON HAVE DROPPED WELL BELOW 15 PERCENT AND COMBINED WITH GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS TO 15-25 MPH...A FEW SPOTS HAVE HIT RED FLAG CRITERIA FOR A LEAST AN HOUR. DONT THINK MANY SITES WILL HIT THE THREE HOURS NECESSARY FOR A RED FLAG WARNING TO BE ISSUED OR THAT IT WILL BE WIDESPREAD ENOUGH FOR AN ISSUANCE. && .AVIATION...LAYERED CLOUDS FROM THE WEST WILL GRADUALLY PUSH EAST ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND HANG AROUND INTO TUESDAY. NOT EXPECTING MUCH WEATHER AT THE TERMINAL SITES WITH THE BEST CHANCES OF PRECIP/LOWER CEILINGS WILL BE NORTH OF TUCSON. SOUTHWEST SURFACE WINDS OF 15-22 KTS WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS OF 25-30 KTS AT ALL OF THE TERMINAL SITES WILL CONTINUE UNTIL SUNSET THEN DIMINISH TO LESS THAN 10 KTS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TO 12 NOON TUESDAY FOR NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF GRAHAM COUNTY ABOVE 5500 FEET. WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 305 PM MST MON FEB 16 2009 AZZ019-171900- NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY- 305 PM MST MON FEB 16 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY. ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 12 PM MST TUESDAY ABOVE 5500 FEET... .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO ARIZONA TONIGHT AND BRING PERIODS OF MODERATE SNOW SHOWERS TO FAR NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY LATE TONIGHT INTO LATE TUESDAY MORNING. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL LOWER TO 5500 FEET OVERNIGHT WITH 3 TO 7 INCHES OF NEW SNOW POSSIBLE BY LATE TUESDAY MORNING. SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH MAY ALSO CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SNOW AND RAIN SHOWERS WILL BE ENDING LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO TUESDAY EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. AZZ030-171900- UPPER GILA RIVER VALLEY- 305 PM MST MON FEB 16 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR GRAHAM COUNTY. ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 12 PM MST TUESDAY ABOVE 5500 FEET... .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO ARIZONA TONIGHT AND BRING PERIODS OF MODERATE SNOW SHOWERS TO THE FAR NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF GRAHAM COUNTY LATE TONIGHT INTO LATE TUESDAY MORNING. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL LOWER TO 5500 FEET OVERNIGHT WITH 3 TO 7 INCHES OF NEW SNOW POSSIBLE BY LATE TUESDAY MORNING. SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH MAY ALSO CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE ENDING IN THE MOUNTAINS TUESDAY AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:30 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A suspected illegal immigrant in the Altar valley was struck by lightning and suffered minor injuries.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, February 2009
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: 154486.