A thunderstorm produced very heavy rain and a flash flood down Kanab Creek.
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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 FGZ wrote it up.
A thunderstorm produced very heavy rain and a flash flood down Kanab Creek.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 9:45 AM MST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 945 AM MST SAT AUG 31 2013 .SYNOPSIS...DEEP MONSOON MOISTURE WILL REMAIN ANCHORED OVER ARIZONA THROUGH SUNDAY...RESULTING IN SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. FROM LABOR DAY THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT WEEK...A RETURN TO MORE TYPICAL MONSOON ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED. && .DISCUSSION...THE MORNING SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER ACROSS WESTERN ARIZONA WITH CLEARING OF CLOUDS ALONG THE NEW MEXICO BORDER. THIS CLEARING ACROSS EASTERN ARIZONA IS DUE TO WEAK UPPER LEVEL SUBSIDENCE AND LESS CLOUDS WILL ALLOW MORE SURFACE HEATING THIS MORNING WHICH COULD LEAD TO STRONGER STORM DEVELOPMENT LATER THIS AFTERNOON. THE SUBTROPICAL HIGH WILL REMAIN CENTERED OVER NEW MEXICO FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS WITH DEEP MOISTURE ENTRENCHED ACROSS ARIZONA THROUGH SUNDAY. AN UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVING SLOWLY NORTHWARD OVER THE KAIBAB PLATEAU TODAY WILL ENHANCE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WITH PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND AN ELEVATED RISK FOR FLASH FLOODING. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN COCONINO COUNTY THROUGH THIS EVENING. WE HAVE INCREASED TODAYS PRECIPITATION CHANCES FOR SOME OF OUR EASTERN FORECAST ZONES. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...MONSOON MOISTURE WILL REMAIN OVER NORTHERN ARIZONA WITH THE DEEPEST MOISTURE LOCATED ACROSS THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE STATE. ANTICIPATE WITH DAYTIME HEATING STORMS WILL ROAR TO LIFE ONCE AGAIN ACROSS ALL OF NORTHERN ARIZONA. THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN WILL BE ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE FROM PAGE-GRAND CANYON-SELIGMAN-LAKE HAVASU CITY. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THIS AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. ELSEWHERE...A BIT DRIER AIR WILL BEGIN TO SNEAK INTO ARIZONA FROM THE EAST. HOWEVER....ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL REMAIN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS...LESS NUMEROUS TOWARD THE ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO BORDER. ON SUNDAY...THE WEAK DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE NORTH OF ARIZONA WITH STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER NEW MEXICO BECOMING THE DOMINANT FEATURE. EASTERLY FLOW AROUND THE HIGH WILL ALLOW ADDITIONAL DRY AIR TO FILTER ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA. IN GENERAL...STORM COVERAGE WILL BE LESS ON SUNDAY WITH THE BEST CHANCE ACROSS NORTHWEST ARIZONA IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE HIGHEST MOISTURE VALUES. STORMS WILL BE MORE ISOLATED TOWARD THE ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO BORDER. FOR LABOR DAY INTO NEXT WEEK...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL BECOME CENTERED OVER COLORADO PRODUCING AN EAST TO SOUTHEAST FLOW ACROSS ARIZONA. SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE IN FROM THE EAST BUT MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN SUFFICIENT FOR SCATTERED AFTERNOON STORMS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN...ISOLATED FOR THE VALLEYS. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED WARM TO NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 18Z PACKAGE...EXPECT AN INCREASE IN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY BEGINNING AROUND 18Z AND LASTING TILL LATE AFTERNOON. THE EXCEPTION IS IN NORTHWEST COCONINO COUNTY WHERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PERSIST WELL INTO THE LATE EVENING. IFR CONDITIONS DUE TO LOW VISIBILITY IS LIKELY IN THE STRONGER STORMS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR AZZ004>007. && PUBLIC.........BOHLIN/MCCOLLUM AVIATION.......RICKEY FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 324 AM MST SAT AUG 31 2013 AZZ004>018-037>040-010230- KAIBAB PLATEAU-MARBLE AND GLEN CANYONS-GRAND CANYON COUNTRY- COCONINO PLATEAU-YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS- NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS HWY 264 NORTHWARD-CHINLE VALLEY- CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN COCONINO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY- WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-WHITE MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN GILA COUNTY-YAVAPAI COUNTY VALLEYS AND BASINS- OAK CREEK AND SYCAMORE CANYONS-BLACK MESA AREA- NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264- 324 AM MST SAT AUG 31 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO... NORTHERN GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF COCONINO COUNTY INCLUDING THE GRAND CANYON THROUGH TONIGHT. HIGH MOISTURE VALUES WILL RESULT IN AREAS OF THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAIN. MOIST SOIL CONDITIONS WILL RESULT IN RAPID RUNOFF AND THE THREAT FOR FLASH FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY DAILY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE ANTICIPATED...WITH A SLIGHT DROP-OFF IN ACTIVITY TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The Cedar City radar (KICX), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:59 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A stream gauge on Kanab Creek north of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon reported a ten foot rise to 9,500 CFS. The Colorado River often fluctuates around this flow in this part of the Grand Canyon.
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, August 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 474836.