A very moist atmosphere and slow storm motion led to thunderstorms which produced flash flooding.
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 very moist atmosphere and slow storm motion led to thunderstorms which produced flash flooding.
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 29, 1:34 PM MST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 134 PM MST THU JUL 29 2010 .SYNOPSIS...A SERIES OF WEATHER DISTURBANCES ACTING ON DEEP MOISTURE IN PLACE OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA WILL BRING INCREASED THUNDERSTORM CHANCES THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. VERY HEAVY RAIN...FLOODING AND ISOLATED MICROBURSTS WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS. && .DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS FORMED IN LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AREA FROM TUCSON WESTWARD. STORMS HAVE PRODUCED SMALL POCKETS OF HEAVY RAIN BUT ARE SHOWING ENOUGH FORWARD MOVEMENT NOT TO DWELL OVER THE SAME AREA FOR TOO LONG. SUBSIDENT AREA ASSOCIATED WITH NEW MEXICO UPPER CIRCULATION CURRENTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR LACK OF ACTIVITY IN GRAHAM AND COCHISE COUNTIES. HOWEVER AS IT WEAKENS...EXPECT AT LEAST SOME STORMS THERE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING. THIS SCENARIO IS SUGGESTED BY 15Z SREF AND NAM ALTHOUGH THE 18Z VERSION HAS BACKED OFF SOMEWHAT. DUE TO THE LATE ONSET OF STORMS EAST...WHICH WILL CUT DOWN ON THE OVERALL DURATION HAVE OPTED NOT TO ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH...ALTHOUGH SOME AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN ARE STILL A GOOD POSSIBILITY. AS EVIDENCED BY SPC DROPPING SLIGHT RISK FROM THEIR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...MID/UPPER LEVEL WIND FIELDS HAVE NOT INCREASED AS MUCH AS WAS ANTICIPATED SO DOWNBURST THREAT LESS THAN INITIALLY EXPECTED...BUT ISOLD DAMAGING WINDS STILL POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. FRIDAY/SATURDAY...UPPER CIRCULATION MOVING W FROM NM WEAKENS FURTHER WHILE THE ONE OVER BAJA NUDGES SLIGHTLY NORTHWARD. THIS MAY ACTUALLY CREATE A MORE CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT TO LIFT MOISTURE REMAINING IN PLACE. HAVE MAINTAINED OR SLIGHTLY RAISED POPS. LATEST SREF CONTINUES TO POINT TO MORE WIDESPREAD HEAVIER RAIN SO FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY END UP MORE SUITED FOR FRIDAY AND/OR SATURDAY THAN TODAY. MODELS LOOK MORE ACTIVE SUN AND MON THAN DURING PREVIOUS RUNS BUT FOCUS MAY NEVERTHELESS BE SHIFTING INTO NWD CWFA AND NORTHWARD. DID RAISE SOME OF THE OVERNIGHT POPS SAT NGT AND SUN NGT THOUGH DUE TO CONTINUED DEEP MOISTURE AND DISTURBANCES IN THE AREA. DID NOT MAKE MUCH IN THE WAY OF CHANGES TO LATER PERIODS AT THIS TIME. MODELS SUGGEST THAT TUES/WED COULD BE LESS ACTIVITY THAN OF LATE BUT THAT COULD CERTAINLY CHANGE. && .AVIATION...SCT-LCLY TSRA WILL HAVE SCT-BKN BASES AROUND 5-7KFT WITH CIGS/VSBYS REACHING THE MVFR CATEGORY AT TIMES IN TSRA WITH MOUNTAINS OBSCURATIONS PREVALENT THROUGH 03Z. AFT 03Z EXPECT ISOLD SHOWERS WITH SCT-BKN BASES OF 7-9KFT AGL ALTHOUGH LOWER CLOUDS AND FOG OBSCURING MOUNTAINS WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM 05Z-13Z. SFC WINDS WILL BE LESS THAN 10 KTS...EXPECT GUSTS NEAR 40 KTS NEAR THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...NO FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS AT THIS TIME. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. DROZD/KAHLER WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 943 AM MST THU JUL 29 2010 AZZ019-029>035-300700- NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY-SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY- UPPER GILA RIVER VALLEY-WESTERN PIMA COUNTY-TOHONO OODHAM NATION- TUCSON METRO/MARANA/GREEN VALLEY-SANTA CRUZ COUNTY-COCHISE COUNTY- 943 AM MST THU JUL 29 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING WITH DAMAGING WIND GUSTS FROM WET MICROBURTS THE MAIN THREAT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND MOVE SLOWLY WESTWARD THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. SOME STORMS COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH. VERY HEAVY RAIN OF 2 INCHES IN ONE HOUR COULD LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAIN AND FLASH FLOODING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND...AND INTO NEXT WEEK. LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS FROM STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. DROZD WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 1156 AM MST THU JUL 29 2010 AZZ029-291945- SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY AZ- 1156 AM MST THU JUL 29 2010 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHERN PINAL COUNTY UNTIL 1245 PM MST... AT 1150 AM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST OF RED ROCK ALONG INTERSTATE 10...OR ABOUT 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF MARANA...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH. WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM...ALONG WITH TORRENTIAL RAIN OF OVER AN INCH IN LESS THAN A HALF AN HOUR. AREAS AFFECTED BY THIS STORM INCLUDE...RED ROCK AND PICACHO PEAK. THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND TV STATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. BE PREPARED FOR SHARP VISIBILITY REDUCTIONS IN HEAVY RAIN ALONG INTERSTATE 10. && LAT...LON 3267 11147 3267 11123 3253 11114 3252 11137 TIME...MOT...LOC 1855Z 158DEG 6KT 3257 11127 PYTLAK
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:05 UTC.
4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Sweetwater wash flooded which covered Camino Del Cerro Rd. Silverbell Road also flooded.
Banning Creek flooded along Highway 82. Several homes were temporarily cutoff from the main road.
Flooding started at about 1035 PM in Cienega Creek southeast of Tucson. Thereafter, heavy rains in the Tucson metro area led to flash flooding in numerous streets in Tucson including at least one swift water rescue.
There was a 6 foot rise on Nogales Wash in 30 minutes with flooding downstream from the gauge.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, July 2010
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: 238355, 238356, 238357, 238354.