Arizona, 2011Wildfire in Arizona, June 1 to 15, 2011
June 1 to 15, 2011 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone
Extreme drought conditions and strong winds caused a human-started fire to quickly become out of control. A separate fire, the Pajarita Fire, started in early June and later combined with the Murphy Fire.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $25,000
- 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.
Extreme drought conditions and strong winds caused a human-started fire to quickly become out of control. A separate fire, the Pajarita Fire, started in early June and later combined with the Murphy Fire. The two fires were known as the Murphy Complex Wildfire which persisted into mid June and consumed over 68,000 acres.
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 31, 9:00 PM MST, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 31, 9:00 PM MST, 3 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
900 PM MST TUE MAY 31 2011
.SYNOPSIS...A CONTINUED WARMING WEDNESDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS
EAST OF THE AREA. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL MAINTAIN DRY CONDITIONS
AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL DAYTIME TEMPERATURES INTO SATURDAY.
PERHAPS ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
WHITE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY. OTHERWISE... DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE
EARLY NEXT WEEK.
&&
.DISCUSSION...SCATTERED HIGH CLOUDINESS IS OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. OVERNIGHT LOWS ARE FORECASTED
IN THE MID 60'S FOR VALLEY LOCATIONS. MAY NEED TO INCREASE THESE
VALUES AS TEMPERATURES ARE STILL HOLDING IN THE MID 80'S. INCREASED
OVERNIGHT CLOUD COVER MAY HELP KEEP LEVELS HIGHER. LATEST MAV MOS
GIVES A LOW AT TUS OF 70 DEG F AND MET MOS SHOWS 69 DEG F. MAY ALSO
INCREASE OVERNIGHT CLOUD COVER AS PLUME OF THICKER HIGH CLOUDS
PERSISTS SOUTHWEST TO THE BAJA SPUR.
&&
.AVIATION...SCT-BKN CLOUDS AT OR ABOVE 25K FT AGL WILL PREVAIL THRU
WEDNESDAY MORNING OR 01/12Z. AFTERNOON SURFACE WIND WLY/SWLY 10-18
KTS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 KTS. OTHERWISE SURFACE WIND LESS THAN 10
KTS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH SATURDAY.
DAYTIME MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO
LOWER TEENS WITH POOR NIGHTTIME RECOVERY.
BREEZY CONDITIONS ARE ANTICIPATED STARTING WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE
WEEKEND...WITH SOUTHWEST TO WESTERLY WINDS AROUND 15 MPH. LOCALLY
STRONGER WINDS ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLEE AND GRAHAM COUNTIES ON
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WILL APPROACH RED FLAG CONDITIONS...BUT
SHOULD NOT HIT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER THRESHOLDS FOR MORE THAN AN
HOUR.
THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR DRY THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE ARIZONA AND
NEW MEXICO BORDER SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...BUT DRY CONDITIONS WILL
PREVAIL ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION...DRAMATIC REBOUND IN HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY IN
WAKE OF SYSTEM THAT WENT THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE LATTER PART OF
THE MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY WEEKEND. CHECK CLIMATE SECTION BELOW FOR
TIDBIT.
SATELLITE IMAGERY THIS AFTERNOON SHOWED SCATTERED TO LOCALLY BROKEN
CIRRUS CLOUDS MOVING ACROSS THE AREA UNDER SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT.
THESE CLOUDS WILL BE AROUND TONIGHT FOR GENERALLY PARTLY CLOUDY
CONDITIONS.
ANOTHER WEST COAST TROF WILL BRING BREEZY TO LOCALLY WINDY
CONDITIONS TO THE AREA STARTING TOMORROW AND CONTINUING INTO THE
WEEKEND. FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS ARE ADDRESSED IN THE FIRE WEATHER
SECTION BELOW.
HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THE WEEK WILL REMAIN AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE
NORMAL FOR THE FIRST PART OF JUNE.
ANY MOISTURE INCREASE UP FROM OLD MEXICO WILL REMAIN OVER NEW MEXICO
STARTING WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. AS UPPER HIGH OVER THE SOUTHERN
PLAINS START TO BUILD WEST...THE AXIS OF THIS MOISTURE WILL WORKS
ITS WAY WEST TOWARD THE AZ/NM BORDER STARTING SATURDAY AND
CONTINUING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. DURING THIS TIME THE THREAT OF DRY
LIGHTNING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS WILL INCREASE.
&&
.CLIMATE...COMING OFF THE COOLEST MEMORIAL DAY IN TUCSON SINCE
1988...WHEN IT WAS 75 DEGREES...THE TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON HAD
A BIG REBOUND AREA WIDE WITH MOST LOCATIONS 8 TO 16 DEGREES WARMER
THAN MONDAY...WITH THE GREATEST CHANGE FROM TUCSON WEST. AS OF 230
PM...TUCSON HAS BEEN UP TO 99 DEGREES. THIS IS 17 DEGREE JUMP FROM
MONDAY...AND IT WOULD RANK AS ONE OF THE GREATEST ONE DAY
TEMPERATURE JUMPS DURING MAY ON RECORD.
TOP ONE DAY TEMPERATURE JUMPS ON RECORD FOR TUCSON IN MAY
1T/ 18 DEGREES...MAY 1905 /71 ON 14TH TO 89 ON 15TH/
1T/ 18 DEGREES...MAY 1940 /70 ON 22ND TO 88 ON 23RD/
3 / 17 DEGREES...MAY 2011 /82 ON 30TH TO 99 ON 31ST/
4 / 16 DEGREES...MAY 1927 /74 ON 10TH TO 86 ON 11TH/
&&
.TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.
WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
Wildfire, Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys
- When
- June 1, 12:00 AM MST to June 15, 9:30 AM MST
- Where
- Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys forecast zone
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- Park/Forest Service
- Coordinates
- 31.812, -111.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme drought conditions coupled with strong winds resulted in a human caused fire getting out of control and spreading into rugged terrain of Santa Cruz county. The fire was started on May 30 and continued through mid June. A total of 68,078 acres of grass, shrub, oak, and mesquite burned. Two structures were lost including the historic Atascosa Lookout in the Atascosa Mountains and an outhouse at Pena Blanca Lake. The estimated total cost of resources devoted to fighting the wildfire was $5.5 million.
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Massachusetts, June 1, 20113 deaths · 200 injured · $228 million · EF3 · 39 events
- Flooding in Nebraska, June 1 to 30, 20112 deaths · $4.3 million · 11 events
- Drought in Texas, June 1 to 30, 2011$1.3 billion · 24 events
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Kansas, June 1 to 4, 2011$15 million · EF0 · 38 events
- Wildfire in Arizona, June 1 to 30, 2011$58 million · 1 event
- Rip Current in American Samoa, June 1 to 10, 20111 death · 1 injured · 1 event
- Tornado and Flood in Nebraska, June 1, 2011$4.5 million · EF0 · 26 events
- Drought in Texas, June 1 to 30, 2011$8.4 million · 10 events
- Drought in Texas, June 1 to 30, 2011$853,000 · 31 events
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kansas, June 1 to 3, 2011$521,000 · EF0 · 36 events
- Wildfire in Arizona, June 1 to 25, 20111 injured · $1.0 million · 1 event
- Flood in Washington, June 1 to 18, 2011$1.2 million · 1 event
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: 300151.