Name: Excessive Heat in Arizona, June 12, 2013
Start: 2013-06-12T10:00
End: 2013-06-12T20:00
Location: Arizona

The toll

Deaths: 1
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 PSR wrote it up.

Unseasonably strong high pressure aloft developed across the desert southwest on Wednesday, June 6th, and it led to very hot temperatures across the central Arizona deserts including the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. High temperatures in the hotter deserts reached to around 110 degrees and this led to the issuance of an Excessive Heat Warning for the afternoon and early evening hours. The extreme heat led to the death of a Spanish tourist who was attempting to hike Table Top mountain near Casa Grande.

Event by event

2 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Central Deserts

When: June 12, 10:00 AM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Central Deserts forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Broadcast Media

Extreme heat developed across the central Arizona deserts on Wednesday, June 12th and it led to the issuance of an Excessive Heat Warning which ran from 10 am until 8 pm. High temperatures reached to around 110 degrees over the hotter deserts; in fact the official high temperature at Phoenix was 110 for the day. According to an on-line article posted at MyFoxPhoenix.Com, a 50 year old professor visiting Arizona from Spain died of heat exhaustion on Wednesday afternoon while attempting to hike Table Top Mountain locate near Casa Grande. At about 430 pm, the Pinal County Sheriff's office received a call about a man who had passed out while hiking. The victim and 2 friends set out for a day hike; they begain the 3 and one half mile hike during the morning and when they reached the top, they stopped for lunch. On the way back down, the 50 year old collapsed. He was unable to walk and appeared disoriented. His friends attempted to carry him down the trail but he lost conciousness; one of the men ran for help and the other performed CPR. Search and Rescue and Emergency Medical Units arrived but the man was pronounced dead. Deputies said that the men did have water but it was not enough for the extreme summer heat.

Excessive Heat, Central Deserts

When: June 12, 10:00 AM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Central Deserts forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Very strong high pressure aloft was situated across Arizona on June 12th, and it led to excessive heat across the south central Arizona deserts, including the central deserts of northern Pinal county. According to the official COOP observation at Maricopa 4N, the high temperature reached to 113 degrees on June 12th, exceeding the excessive heat warning threshold for that day. An Excessive Heat Warning was in effect from 10 AM until 8 PM on June 12th.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Excessive Heat, Central Deserts	2013-06-12	50	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

What these are

Excessive Heat: Heat at or above the local excessive heat warning criteria, or heat that caused deaths.

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, June 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 448714, 464102.