Name: Flash Flood in Arizona, August 1, 2013
Start: 2013-08-01T03:00
End: 2013-08-01T05:00
Location: Arizona

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $5,000
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS TWC wrote it up.

A mesoscale convective system drifted north out of Sonora into southern Arizona during the early morning, bringing with it showers and thunderstorms. Moisture rich storms caused flash flooding in Cochise County during the early morning hours.

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 Aug 1, 2:35 AM MST, 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 1, 2:35 AM MST, 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
235 AM MST THU AUG 1 2013

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

&&

.DISCUSSION...CONSIDERABLE DEBRIS CLOUDINESS ACROSS THE AREA THIS
MORNING. MUCH FURTHER SOUTH...THERE WAS AN MCS SOUTH OF GUYMAS
MOVING INTO THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA. OUTFLOW FOR THIS COMPLEX LIKELY
TO SEND UP A SURGE OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE UP THE GULF TODAY. MOISTURE
IS BACK WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES THIS MORNING IN THE 1.45" TO
1.60" RANGE. SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL BE AROUND INTO THE WEEKEND AND
EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH UPPER LEVEL HIGH OVER TEXAS. SHOULD SEE AN
UPTICK IN AREAL COVERAGE OF STORMS TODAY...WITH SCATTERED MAINLY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING STORMS CONTINUING FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS. HARD TO
PICK OUT WHICH DAY WILL BE MORE ACTIVE THAN ANOTHER. SO BASICALLY
KEPT NEAR CLIMO POPS IN THE FORECAST. HIGHS TODAY WILL BE SLIGHTLY
ABOVE NORMAL...THEN GRADUALLY COOL TO NEAR NORMAL OVER THE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS.

&&

.AVIATION...SCT-BKN CLOUDS AT 10-14K FT AGL...AND BKN-OVC CLOUDS AOA
20K FT AGL THRU 01/16Z. AFT 01/16Z...SCT-BKN CLOUDS AT 6-10K FT AGL.
ISOLD-SCT TSRA DEVELOPING AFT 01/19Z...MAINLY FROM KTUS SOUTH AND
EAST INCLUDING THE KOLS AND KDUG TERMINALS THRU 02/05Z. WIND GUSTS
TO 45 KTS NEAR ANY TSRA...AS WELL AS LOCAL MVFR/IFR CIGS/VSBYS.
OTHERWISE...SURFACE WIND GENERALLY LESS THAN 10 KTS THRU 02/16Z.
AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...MOISTURE WILL REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION INTO
NEXT WEEK...RESULTING IN A CHANCE OF MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING
SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS THE EASTERN TWO-THIRDS OF
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. OUTSIDE OF GUSTY THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOWS...WINDS
DURING THIS PERIOD ARE EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT...GENERALLY LESS THAN 15
MPH...AND DIURNALLY DRIVEN.

&&

.CLIMATE...JULY 2013 FOR TUCSON GOES INTO THE RECORDS BOOKS AS THE
19TH WARMEST AND 38TH WETTEST ON RECORD. THE JULY CLIMATE REPORT FOR
TUCSON WILL BE POSTED LATER THIS MORNING ON OUR WEBSITE...FACEBOOK
AND ON TWITTER.

AFTER DOUGLAS RECORDED ITS WETTEST ANY MONTH ON RECORD DURING JULY
WITH 10.12"...THE MAIN STORY DOWN THERE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE
2013 MONSOON IS THEIR ATTEMPT AT RECORDING THE WETTEST MONSOON ON
RECORD. DOUGLAS IS CURRENTLY 5.67" FROM THE RECORD OF 15.90" THAT
OCCURRED IN 1964. DATING BACK TO 1948...THERE HAVE BEEN THIRTEEN
OCCURRENCES WHICH RECORDED MORE THAN 5.67" FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE
MONSOON PERIOD. COMBINED NORMAL RAINFALL FOR AUGUST/SEPTEMBER IN
4.59". SINCE 1948...DOUGLAS HAS RECORD MORE THAN THE NORMAL TOTAL 27
TIMES. UNLESS SOMETHING REALLY ODD HAPPENS AT DOUGLAS AIRPORT...A
TOP 5 WETTEST MONSOON ON RECORD IS MOST DEFINITE.

&&

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

&&

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

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Cochise

When: August 1, 3:00 AM MST to 5:00 AM MST
Where: Cochise County, 0.86 mi S of Corta Junction to 2.58 mi SSW of Palominas
Cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 31.408, -109.899

Two inches of rain fell in less than 30 minutes on the southwest slopes of the Mule Mountains and in Old Bisbee causing extensive street flooding of the historic district. A retaining wall collapsed due to the force of the flowing water. The wall fell on a vehicle, creating dents and breaking the windshield. Flooding also left debris covering Highway 92 near the San Pedro River.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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: 472112.