Scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms developed across much of southern Arizona. There were no severe weather reports in southeast Arizona, but storms did produce frequent lightning.
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.
Scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms developed across much of southern Arizona. There were no severe weather reports in southeast Arizona, but storms did produce frequent lightning.
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 19, 1:31 PM MST, 4 hours 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 130 PM MST SUN JULY 19 2009 .SYNOPSIS...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BRING HOT CONDITIONS TO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. MOISTURE WILL ALSO BE SUFFICIENT FOR THE DAILY CYCLE OF SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. && .DISCUSSION...KEMX WSR-88D DETECTED ISOLATED 35-55 DBZ CELLS NEAR THE CATALINA MOUNTAINS AS WELL AS FAR SRN PIMA COUNTY AND WRN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY AT 2025Z. OTHER CELLS WERE JUST NE OF HANNAGAN MEADOW. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATED CUMULOFORM CLOUDS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE FORECAST AREA. HAVE OPTED TO MAINTAIN THE SCENARIO OF ISOLATED-SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING. THE CONCERN WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED STRONG/GUSTY WINDS PARTICULARLY GIVEN THE FAIRLY DRY SURFACE ENVIRONMENT. FOR INSTANCE KTUS DEWPOINT WAS 45 F AT 2020Z. BULK OF ACTIVITY EXPECTED TO END AROUND MIDNIGHT OR SO. SYNOPTIC-SCALE PATTERN PROGGED TO EXHIBIT ONLY VERY MINOR CHANGES THIS WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT TO REMAIN CENTERED OVER THE SWRN CONUS. THUS MONSOON MOISTURE TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA. BASED ON 19/12Z GFS/ECMWF SOLUTIONS...DIFFICULT TO DISCERN FEATURES WITHIN THE FLOW THAT WOULD SIGNIFY A MORE-PRONOUNCED CONVECTIVELY-ACTIVE DAY FROM ANOTHER. SO WILL CONTINUE TO DEPICT EITHER A SLIGHT CHANCE OR LOW-END CHANCE-CATEGORY POPS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING PERIODS. DAYTIME HIGH TEMPS DURING MUCH OF THIS FORECAST PERIOD TO BE ABOUT 5-10 DEGS ABOVE NORMAL. && .AVIATION...EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED TSRA/SHRA THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE STRONGEST TSRA WILL BE ACCOMPANIED WITH WIND GUSTS OF 40-45 KTS. OTHERWISE...SCATTERED TO BROKEN CUMULOFORM CLOUDS WITH BASES 11-13K FT AGL. TSRA/SHRA TO DECREASE IN COVERAGE AFTER 04Z AND ANY CONVECTIVE CLOUD DEBRIS TO DISSIPATE LATE TONIGHT. SURFACE WINDS SWLY/WLY 5-15 KTS THRU 06Z THEN SLY/SELY 5-15 KTS LATE TONIGHT AND INTO MONDAY MORNING. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR THIS WEEK...WITH THE BULK OF ACTIVITY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS. SURFACE WINDS GENERALLY FROM THE SOUTHWEST AND WEST THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING...THEN A DIURNALLY DRIVEN WIND REGIME ON TAP MONDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. BF WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 930 AM MST SUN JUL 19 2009 AZZ019-030-034-035-201200- NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY-UPPER GILA RIVER VALLEY- SANTA CRUZ COUNTY-COCHISE COUNTY- 930 AM MST SUN JUL 19 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA INTO THIS EVENING. THE STRONGEST STORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH. THE BULK OF THE ACTIVITY IS FORECAST TO END BY AROUND MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE DAILY CYCLE OF ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. AZZ029-031>033-201200- SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY-WESTERN PIMA COUNTY-TOHONO OODHAM NATION- TUCSON METRO/MARANA/GREEN VALLEY- 930 AM MST SUN JUL 19 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA INTO THIS EVENING. THE STRONGEST STORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH...AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES DUE TO BLOWING DUST. THE BULK OF THE ACTIVITY IS FORECAST TO END BY AROUND MIDNIGHT. ALSO...NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE ON TAP THIS AFTERNOON FOR SOUTHEAST PINAL AND PIMA COUNTIES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE DAILY CYCLE OF ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a porch of a mobile home in Picture Rocks, creating a fire. The fire spread into the home, causing damage. One person suffered minor burn injuries to his hands and wrists while attempting to extinguish the fire.
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, July 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: 173107.