High pressure located over northern New Mexico, deep moisture, and unstable conditions resulted in afternoon and evening thunderstorms, some of which produced damaging winds and heavy rainfall.
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.
High pressure located over northern New Mexico, deep moisture, and unstable conditions resulted in afternoon and evening thunderstorms, some of which produced damaging winds and heavy rainfall.
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 9, 2:35 PM MST, 19 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 235 PM MST SAT JUL 9 2011 .SYNOPSIS...DEEP MOISTURE AND A FAVORABLE FLOW WILL MAINTAIN AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS INTO NEXT WEEK. DRIER AIR TRYING TO PUSH INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST NEXT WEEK MAY LEAD TO LESS THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...ACTIVITY THIS AFTERNOON HAD MAINLY BEEN OVER THE MOUNTAINS BUT A FEW HAVE TRIED TO MOVE OFF. A FEW OF THE STORMS HAVE BEEN HEAVY RAINERS WHERE A FEW SPOTS HAVE RECORDED UP TO TWO INCHES SO FAR...ESPECIALLY ON THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS AWAY FROM THE MONUMENT BURN AREA. FOR OUR RADAR USERS...RADAR PRECIP VALUES LIKELY OVERDONE BY ALMOST A FACTOR OF TWO THIS AFTERNOON. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE TO CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS WITH A FEW LINGERING STORMS CONTINUING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. WET MICROBURSTS AND LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING MAIN CONCERNS INTO THIS EVENING. MODELS KEEP THE AREA RATHER ACTIVE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...BUT COULD SEE ONE OF THE DAYS BEING A DOWN DAY TO DUE CONSIDERABLE DEBRIS CLOUDINESS OVER THE AREA. THIS OBVIOUSLY WOULD WRECK HAVOC WITH MY TEMPERATURE FORECAST...ESPECIALLY FOR MONDAY IF THE NAM/ECMWF ARE RIGHT...THEN I'M 3-5 DEGREE TOO WARM MONDAY. DRIER SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL PUSH IN BY MID-WEEK AS AN UPPER TROF DEEPENS ALONG THE WEST COAST. WILL CONTINUE IDEA OF USING BELOW NORMAL CLIMO POPS WED-FRI. && .AVIATION...ISOLD/SCTD TS/SHRA WILL CONT THRU 04Z PERIOD. MVFR CIGS/VSBYS AND WIND GUSTS OF 30-45 KTS IN THE VICINITY OF STRONGER TSRA. PRECIP TO DECREASE IN COVERAGE AFT 06Z SUNDAY. ALSO...SURFACE WIND AWAY FROM THUNDERSTORMS GENERALLY LESS THAN 10 KTS. TS/SHRA DVLPG SUNDAY AFT 19Z. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. STRONG...ERRATIC AND GUSTY WINDS AND LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN WILL OCCUR WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. OTHERWISE...A NORMAL DIURNAL WIND REGIME AND NEAR NORMAL DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WILL PREVAIL INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR MAY LEAD TO LESS THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 1255 PM MST SAT JUL 9 2011 AZZ503-504-506>515-100600- UPPER SANTA CRUZ RIVER VALLEY/ALTAR VALLEY-TUCSON METRO AREA- SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY-UPPER SAN PEDRO RIVER VALLEY- EASTERN COCHISE COUNTY BELOW 5000 FEET-UPPER GILA RIVER VALLEY- WHITE MOUNTAINS OF GRAHAM AND GREENLEE COUNTIES- GALIURO AND PINALENO MOUNTAINS-CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS- DRAGOON AND MULE AND HUACHUCA AND SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS- CATALINA AND RINCON MOUNTAINS-BABOQUIVARI MOUNTAINS- 1240 PM MST SAT JUL 9 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE AROUND THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT WITH A FEW LINGERING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. MAIN THREAT FROM THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES AND LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING DUE TO HEAVY RAIN. EVEN MODERATE PRECIPITATION OVER THE AREAS SEVERELY BURNED BY WILDFIRES WILL RESULT IN FLASH FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED EVERY DAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK MAINLY DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES AND MAY CONTAIN POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND FLASH FLOOD PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN. EVEN MODERATE PRECIPITATION OVER THE AREAS SEVERELY BURNED BY WILDFIRES WILL RESULT IN FLASH FLOODING. A DRIER SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING MUCH DRIER AIR INTO THE REGION BY WEDNESDAY...THUS REDUCING THE CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. AZZ501-502-505-100600- WESTERN PIMA COUNTY-TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION- SOUTH CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY- 1255 PM MST SAT JUL 9 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS ARE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...WHICH MAY PRODUCED AREAS OF BLOWING DUST...AND LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK BEFORE A DISTINCT BREAK IN THE DAILY ACTIVITY OCCURS BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 35 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:55 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm microburst winds downed 20 power poles in Sahuarita along La Canada Road. Several additional trees and branches were also downed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, July 2011
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: 329117.