Arizona, 2013

Hail and Heavy Rain in Arizona, July 20, 2013

July 20, 2013 · NWS FGZ · 3 events in 1 county or zone

Thunderstorms caused heavy rain over portions of Yavapai County.

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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 FGZ wrote it up.

Thunderstorms caused heavy rain over portions of Yavapai County.

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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 20, 9:25 AM MST, 5 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 9:25 AM MST, 5 hours 5 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 20, 7:05 AM MST, 7 hours 25 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
705 AM MST SAT JUL 20 2013

AZZ004>018-037>040-210700-
WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-GRAND CANYON COUNTRY-YAVAPAI COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
YAVAPAI COUNTY VALLEYS AND BASINS-OAK CREEK AND SYCAMORE CANYONS-
MARBLE AND GLEN CANYONS-KAIBAB PLATEAU-COCONINO PLATEAU-
NORTHEAST PLATEAU AND MESAS HWY 264 NORTHWARD-
NORTHEAST PLATEAU AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264-
CHINLE VALLEY-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU-
BLACK MESA AREA-LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN COCONINO COUNTY-
LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY-
LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY-
EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-WHITE MOUNTAINS-NORTHERN GILA COUNTY-
705 AM MST SAT JUL 20 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN
GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

MOIST AND UNSTABLE EASTERLY FLOW WILL BRING ANOTHER ACTIVE DAY TO
PARTS OF NORTHERN AND MUCH OF CENTRAL ARIZONA. STORMS WILL FIRST
INITIATE OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS AND THE
MOGOLLON RIM. THESE STORMS WILL THEN MOVE WESTWARD INTO YAVAPAI AND
GILA COUNTIES. SOME STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL.
HIGHER THAN NORMAL MOISTURE ACROSS THE AREA...AS WELL AS RECENT
HEAVY RAINS...WILL ENHANCE THE CHANCES OF FLOODING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

DAILY CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY. A DRYING TREND MAY DEVELOP TOWARD THE END OF
NEXT WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 124 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy rain, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Yavapai

When
July 20, 2:30 PM MST to 4:00 PM MST
Where
Yavapai County, 5 mi W of Chino Vly to 5 mi E of Chino Vly
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
34.730, -112.538

About 2.50 inches of rain fell in about 90 minutes.

Heavy Rain, Yavapai

When
July 20, 4:45 PM MST to 5:30 PM MST
Where
Yavapai County, 15 mi S of Mayer to 8 mi S of Mayer
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
34.183, -112.230

About 1.28 inches of rain fell in just 45 minutes ten miles south of Mayer.

Hail, Yavapai

When
July 20, 5:20 PM MST to 5:30 PM MST
Where
Yavapai County, 15 mi S of Mayer to 8 mi S of Mayer
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
34.183, -112.230

One inch diameter hail fell with 0.38 inches of rain in just 10 minutes.

What these are

Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, July 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 473878, 473880, 473879.