Name: Drought in Arizona, August 1 to 31, 2013
Start: 2013-08-01T00:00
End: 2013-08-31T23:59
Location: Arizona

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

The area of extreme drought (D3) conditions in southeast Arizona remained unchanged throughout August, essentially encompassing the southern halves of Graham and Greenlee counties.

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 Jul 31, 8:45 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 8:45 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
845 PM MST WED JUL 31 2013

.SYNOPSIS...SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS
WILL CONTINUE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH GRADUALLY COOLER
TEMPERATURES.

&&

.DISCUSSION...WITH WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND 01/00Z UPPER-AIR PLOTS
SHOWING THE CENTER OF HIGH PRESSURE STILL LINGERING IN THE SAME
GENERAL LOCATION OVER THE PAST DAY OR SO...THE HIGH IS BASICALLY
QUASI-STATIONARY OVER SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO.

IR SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS EXTENSIVE CLOUDINESS COVERING MUCH OF
EASTERN ARIZONA...MOST OF NEW MEXICO...AS WELL AS SONORA AND
CHIHUAHUA MEXICO WHERE A COMPLEX IS CURRENTLY ACTIVE OVER SOUTHERN
CHIHUAHUA AND ALSO SOUTHERN SONORA AND NORTHERN SINALOA. CLOSER TO
HOME...AN IMPULSE THAT IS PROGGED BY THE GFS AND ECMWF TO SWING
NORTH FROM NORTHERN MEXICO AND ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA THROUGH THE
OVERNIGHT HOURS AND INTO THE DAY ON THURSDAY IS LIKELY RESULTING IN
CONVECTION OVER OVER THE EXTREME SOUTHWEST PORTION OF NEW MEXICO AND
RADARS FROM AROUND THE REGION ARE DETECTING ISOLATED TO SCATTERED
CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY OVER EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO AND NORTHWEST
CHIHUAHUA THAT IS MOVING TO THE WEST NORTHWEST TOWARD SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA. EXPECT THE ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE TO SLOWLY WANE THROUGH THE
NIGHT...BUT CAN'T RULE OUT ISOLATED ACTIVITY CONTINUING TO SPILL
OVER INTO COCHISE COUNTY THROUGH THE NIGHT. THAT SAID...WILL MAKE
SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS TO THE POP GRIDS TO REFLECT A LINGERING THREAT
MAINLY EAST OF TUCSON TO THE NEW MEXICO BORDER...BUT MOSTLY IN
COCHISE COUNTY.

AS OF 03Z (8 PM MST)...TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION RANGED FROM
THE LOWER 80S TO THE LOWER 90S...WITH THE TUCSON INTL AIRPORT
REPORTING A TEMP OF 93 DEGS AFTER REACHING AN AFTERNOON HIGH OF 101
DEGS. WILL MAKE SOME MINOR TWEAKS TO THE SHORT TERM HOURLY
TEMPERATURE GRIDS TO REFLECT THE MOST RECENT TRENDS. OTHERWISE...THE
TEMPERATURE FORECAST IS ON TRACK WITH EXPECTED OVERNIGHT LOWS.

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE FORECAST BEYOND TONIGHT...PLEASE
REFER TO THE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION BELOW.

&&

.AVIATION...DISCUSSION PERIOD THROUGH 02/00Z. ISOLD TO SCT TSRA
MAINLY EAST OF A LINE FROM KFHU-KSAD INTO THIS EVENING...SOME
WITH GUSTS TO 45KTS AND MT OBSCURATIONS AND MVFR/IFR CIGS/VSBYS IN
+RA. ISOLD -SHRA MAY LINGER OVERNIGHT...ESPECIALLY OVER COCHISE
COUNTY...THEN SCT TSRA AGAIN THU AFTERNOON. SURFACE WIND GENERALLY
LESS THAN 10 KTS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF
AMENDMENTS.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE ACROSS SE AZ THE
NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AND WILL REMAIN IN PLACE INTO NEXT WEEK...
RESULTING IN AN INCREASE IN SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.
OUTSIDE OF GUSTY THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOWS...WINDS DURING THIS PERIOD
ARE EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT...GENERALLY LESS THAN 15 MPH...AND
DIURNALLY DRIVEN.

&&

.CLIMATE...BASED ON FORECAST HIGH/LOW TEMPERATURES FOR TUCSON...JULY
2013 WILL LIKELY END UP AS 19TH WARMEST ON RECORD. RAINFALL AT
TUCSON AIRPORT CURRENTLY RANKS AS 38TH WETTEST JULY ON RECORD. THE
JULY CLIMATE REPORT FOR TUCSON WILL BE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE AND
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS THURSDAY MORNING.

&&

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...MODEL GUIDANCE IS INDICATING AN INVERTED
TROUGH ACROSS NORTHERN CHIHUAHUA WHICH WILL SWING NORTHWARD ACROSS
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA TONIGHT INTO EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. THIS COULD
KEEP SOME SHOWERS GOING DURING THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD. THE INVERTED
TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTH OF THIS FORECAST AREA THURSDAY
AFTERNOON WITH SOUTHEAST ARIZONA BEING ON THE SUBSIDENT BACK
SIDE...WHICH ALONG WITH A BIT MORE SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW COULD LIMIT
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS A BIT. EVEN AS SUCH...MOISTURE AND
INSTABILITY PARAMETERS LOOK BETTER THURSDAY THAN TODAY SO EXPECT
ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR MOST OF THE
AREA. HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK...VERY
PERSISTENT PATTERN WITH MID/UPPER LEVEL HIGH PARKED ACROSS SOUTHERN
NEW MEXICO/WEST TEXAS WILL KEEP GENERALLY SOUTHERLY FLOW ACROSS
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA AND THE MONSOON MOISTURE PLUME OVER THE AREA. THIS
WILL RESULT IN A NEAR CLIMO MONSOON PATTERN FOR EARLY AUGUST WITH
ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. THERE WILL
BE THE TYPICAL DAY TO DAY VARIABILITY WITH MINOR FEATURES THAT WE
ARE UNABLE TO RESOLVE MORE THAN A DAY OR TWO OUT. OTHERWISE...
TEMPERATURES WILL GRADUALLY COOL THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.

&&

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

&&

VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys

When: August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 33.074, -109.563 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The area under extreme drought (D3) conditions remained unchanged as most locations in southern Graham and Greenlee counties received between 0.5 and 1.5 inches of rainfall during August, or about half of normal. The Safford airport received just 1.3 inches of rain. The Pinale o Mountains were the exception to the dry trend where rainfall was near or even above normal. Some of the effects on the cotton crop have been mitigated by farmers leaving half of their fields idle this season. Mandatory water restrictions adopted by the City of Safford in August of 2012 have helped mitigate the city's supply to some extent, but due to the prolonged drought, the low water table caused the city to shut off four of the city's eleven wells. This in turn prompted the city to approve higher water rates to fund the drilling of new wells and building of pipelines. The estimated cost of a mile of new piping from proposed new wells south of the city was over $1 million. In nearby Thatcher, mandatory water restrictions were ordered and stricter water conservation standards have been adopted for new construction.

Drought, Galiuro and Pinaleno Mountains

When: August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Galiuro and Pinaleno Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 32.572, -110.328 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The area under extreme drought (D3) conditions remained unchanged as most locations in southern Graham and Greenlee counties received between 0.5 and 1.5 inches of rainfall during August, or about half of normal. The Safford airport received just 1.3 inches of rain. The Pinale o Mountains were the exception to the dry trend where rainfall was near or even above normal. Some of the effects on the cotton crop have been mitigated by farmers leaving half of their fields idle this season. Mandatory water restrictions adopted by the City of Safford in August of 2012 have helped mitigate the city's supply to some extent, but due to the prolonged drought, the low water table caused the city to shut off four of the city's eleven wells. This in turn prompted the city to approve higher water rates to fund the drilling of new wells and building of pipelines. The estimated cost of a mile of new piping from proposed new wells south of the city was over $1 million. In nearby Thatcher, mandatory water restrictions were ordered and stricter water conservation standards have been adopted for new construction.

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, August 2013

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: 471752, 471758.