Damaging Wind in Arizona, May 25, 2009

Name: Damaging Wind in Arizona, May 25, 2009
Start: 2009-05-25T17:44
End: 2009-05-25T17:44
Location: Arizona

May 25, 2009 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Southerly flow increased the moisture supply over Southeast Arizona. Scattered thunderstorms resulted in isolated microbursts yielding brief severe wind gusts.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS TWC wrote it up.

Southerly flow increased the moisture supply over Southeast Arizona. Scattered thunderstorms resulted in isolated microbursts yielding brief severe wind gusts.

What forecasters said that day

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 May 25, 2:30 PM MST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 25, 2:30 PM MST, 3 hours 14 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST MON MAY 25 2009

.SYNOPSIS...ENOUGH MOISTURE WILL PERSIST FOR A FEW MOUNTAIN
THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE WEEK. SLOW WARMING TREND AS HIGH PRESSURE
BUILDS BACK OVER THE AREA.

&&

.DISCUSSION...12Z KTUS SOUNDING HAD PRECIPITABLE WATER DOWN TO 1/2
OF AN INCH AND A NICE SUBSIDENCE INVERSION JUST ABOVE 600MB. SURFACE
DEWPTS RUNNING IN THE 20S AND 30S THIS AFTERNOON. STILL ENOUGH
MOISTURE AND LIFT FOR ISOLATED MOUNTAIN BUILDUPS IN SLIGHTLY DEEPER
MOISTURE ACROSS FAR EASTERN AND NORTHEASTERN AREAS. ISOLATED TO
SCATTERED CONVECTION IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS LIKELY ENDING SHORTLY
AFTER SUNDOWN.

AS LARGE SCALE RIDGE BUILDS ACROSS WESTERN STATES...AN INVERTED
IMPULSE COMES IN FROM THE EAST UNDER THE CONSOLIDATING HIGH CENTER
AROUND WEDNESDAY. THEN THE RIDGE FLATTENS OUT AND ZONAL FLOW BRINGS
IN A WEAK LOW FROM OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST LATE IN THE
WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. MOISTURE INCREASE JUST EAST OF US AND
PROBABLY SPILLING OVER INTO PORTIONS OF OUR CWA. SO...WE DONT
COMPLETELY SCOUR OUT THE MOISTURE TO START THE WEEK...THEN A SMALL
ENHANCEMENT WITH THE IMPULSE BY WEDNESDAY...FOLLOWED BY SOME
REINFORCEMENT WITH THE FLOW AHEAD OF THE LOW LATE IN THE WEEK AND
NEXT WEEKEND. ISOLATED TO LOW END SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TO
CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH A BETTER CHANCE OF A FEW VALLEY
STORMS WITH THE WEEKEND SETUP. SHOULD CONTINUE TO MODERATE AFTERNOON
HIGHS CLOSER TO CLIMO THAN WE WOULD OTHERWISE BE SEEING.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...RESIDUAL MOISTURE THIS WEEK WILL RESULT IN A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS FIRE WEATHER ZONE 146...AS WELL AS THE EASTERN PORTION OF
FIRE ZONE 148 ESPECIALLY WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY. DRY CONDITIONS ARE
FORECAST WEST OF THE TUCSON METRO AREA. LIGHT DIURNALLY DRIVEN
SURFACE WINDS WITH NEAR NORMAL DAYTIME TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE
MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...THEN SOME WARMING LATER IN THE WEEK.

&&

.AVIATION...EXPECT MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES KTUS VICINITY WWD INTO
TUESDAY. AFTERNOON CONVECTION NE OF KTUS ACROSS GRAHAM AND NORTHERN
GREENLEE COUNTIES...SCT TO OCCASIONALLY BKN CLOUDS WITH BASES AROUND
10-12K FT AGL WITH ISOLD-SCT TSRA/SHRA DURING THE 18Z-05Z PERIOD.
CLOUD BASES AROUND 4-6K FT AGL AND VSBYS AS LOW AS 4SM ASSOCIATED
WITH HEAVIER TSRA/SHRA. NORMAL SEASONAL DIURNAL WIND TRENDS
REFLECTED IN TAFS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF
AMENDMENTS.

&&

.TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 142 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Graham

When: May 25, 5:44 PM MST
Where: Graham County, 2.42 mi NNW of Solomon
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 32.852, -109.636

ASOS measured a wind gust of 62 mph at the Safford Airport.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arizona in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, May 2009

Sources

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: 162775.