An area of low pressure moved from southern Nevada across northern Arizona bringing strong southwest winds to southeast Arizona. While the winds did not bring any major damage, they did generate areas of blowing dust that led to motor vehicle accidents.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
An area of low pressure moved from southern Nevada across northern Arizona bringing strong southwest winds to southeast Arizona. While the winds did not bring any major damage, they did generate areas of blowing dust that led to motor vehicle accidents.
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 Apr 7, 1:50 PM MST, 22 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
150 PM MST SUN APR 7 2013
.SYNOPSIS...A STORM SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH THE REGION WILL BRING VERY
WINDY CONDITIONS MONDAY...FOLLOWED BY A FEW MAINLY MOUNTAIN SHOWERS
AND MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SOME DAMAGING
WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING...ESPECIALLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND EAST OF TUCSON.
&&
.DISCUSSION...LATEST MODELS CONTINUED TO POINT TO AN EXTREMELY WINDY
DAY TOMORROW. SREF SHOWED DECENT PROBABILITIES FOR WIND SPEEDS
GREATER THAN 34KTS BY 21Z MONDAY. THIS IS RARE CONSIDERING THAT EACH
MEMBER TYPICALLY UNDER FORECAST WIND SPEEDS. THIS INFO COMBINED WITH
MOS AND PROGGED 700MB FLOW BY ALL MODELS INDICATED HIGH CONFIDENCE
IN EXTREMELY STRONG WINDS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...WITH
DAMAGING WIND SPEEDS POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGHER VALLEY
ELEVATIONS EAST OF TUCSON. THIS WILL BE A RARE SPRING WIND
EVENT...AS STANDARDIZED ANOMALIES VALUES FOR THE NAEFS MEAN WIND
SPEED AT 700MB WERE RUNNING AT 3 TO 4 DEVIATIONS BY 00Z TUESDAY.
THESE STRONG WINDS WILL MAKE FOR HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS WITH
AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES LIKELY. DAMAGING WIND
SPEEDS WILL ALSO BE A CONCERN IN THE MOUNTAINS AND COCHISE COUNTY.
THUS...WILL UPGRADE THE WIND ADVISORY THERE TO A HIGH WIND WARNING
FOR MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ALSO...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER
CONDTIONS WILL BE IN PLACE. PLEASE REFER TO THE FIRE WEATHER SECTION
IN THIS PRODUCT FOR MORE DETAILS. MOISTURE WILL BE LIMITED THIS FAR
SOUTH...SO NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF PRECIPITATION CHANCES EXCEPT FOR
IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS.
LATEST MODELS TRACK THE UPPER LOW INTO WESTERN COLORADO BY TUESDAY
AFTERNOON...WITH ANOTHER WEAKER SYSTEM PASSING BY TO OUR NORTH
THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. OVERALL...EXPECT IMPROVING CONDITIONS TUESDAY
BUT COULD STILL SEE A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS DURING THE DAY. THE
STORM WILL ALSO USHER IN SOME COOLER TEMPERATURES FOR TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY.
&&
.AVIATION...EXTREMELY WINDY MONDAY WITH SWLY SFC WINDS 25-35 KTS
WITH GUSTS OVER 45KTS MONDAY AFTERNOON INTO EVENING. EXPECT LOCAL
VSBY REDUCTIONS DUE TO BLDU. MEANWHILE...WLY WINDS 8-16 KTS THIS
AFTERNOON WITH HIGHER GUSTS WILL TAPER OFF TO LESS THAN 10 KTS
BEFORE INCREASING AFTER 08/15Z. MAINLY SKC-SCT CLOUDS THROUGH 09/00Z
EXCEPT MONDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS THE WHITE MTNS WITH SCT-BKN CLOUDS
5-10K FT AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF -SHRA. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT
UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA MONDAY RESULTING IN VERY STRONG WINDS FOR THE ENTIRE AREA.
MEANWHILE...AFTERNOON BREEZES WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY EVENING
WITH A FEW GUSTS BEFORE TAPERING OFF THIS EVENING. BY MONDAY...THE
PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL BECOME VERY TIGHT RESULTING IN SUSTAINED
WINDS OF 25 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH DURING THE
AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR ACROSS
THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND IN COCHISE COUNTY. MINIMUM RELATIVE
HUMIDITY VALUES CONTINUE TO SUPPORT RED FLAG CONDITIONS ACROSS
ELEVATIONS BELOW 5000 FEET IN FIRE WEATHER ZONE 148 SO WE WENT
AHEAD AND UPGRADED THIS REGION TO A RED FLAG WARNING.
ELSEWHERE...RH VALUES WILL GENERALLY BE ABOVE CRITICAL
THRESHOLDS AS A BIT MORE MOISTURE MOVES IN AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. WE
WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE TRENDS FOR EASTERN FIRE WEATHER ZONE
147 AS THIS AREA IS MORE BORDERLINE AND MAY NEED TO BE UPGRADED TO A
RED FLAG WARNING IN SUBSEQUENT SHIFTS.
BY MONDAY NIGHT...WINDS WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE WITH A COLD FRONT
PUSHING THROUGH THE REGION. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AS
EARLY AS MONDAY AFTERNOON IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS AND THEN MONDAY
NIGHT FOR MOST OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FROM TUCSON EASTWARD. MUCH
COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED BY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH MORE
TYPICAL AFTERNOON BREEZES FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. BY MID TO LATE THIS
WEEK...RIDGING WILL GRADUALLY MOVE IN FROM THE WEST WITH WARMING
TEMPERATURES AND DRY CONDITIONS.
&&
.TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 11 AM TO 8 PM MST MONDAY FOR AZZ507-508-
510>515.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 11 AM TO 8 PM MST MONDAY FOR AZZ501>506-509.
RED FLAG WARNING FROM 11 AM TO 8 PM MST MONDAY FOR AZZ148.
&&
VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON<!doctype html>
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 high wind, 1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Southwest winds were sustained at times between 35 and 45 mph with gusts around 60 mph.
Southwest winds were sustained at times between 35 and 45 mph with gusts around 60 mph.
Southwest winds were sustained at times between 35 and 45 mph with gusts around 60 mph.
Southwest winds were sustained between 40 and 50 mph with gusts around 65 mph.
Southwest winds were sustained between 40 and 50 mph with gusts around 65 mph.
Southwest winds were sustained between 40 and 50 mph with gusts around 65 mph.
Southwest winds were sustained between 40 and 50 mph with gusts around 65 mph.
Strong southwest winds around 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph led to areas of blowing dust across Interstate 10 in Pinal County. Visibility was restricted to less than 100 feet at times. Two semis jack-knifed and were involved in an accident with two other passenger vehicles near Picacho and Milepost 213. Four minor injuries resulted. Another multi-vehicle chain-reaction accident on westbound Interstate 10 occurred near Milepost 212 resulted in less serious damage and no injuries.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, April 2013
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 448513, 448514, 448516, 448517, 448518, 448520, 448521, 448523.