Arizona, 2013

Dust Storm in Arizona, June 30, 2013

June 30, 2013 · NWS PSR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Excessive heat combined with modest amounts of moisture to generate isolated high based thunderstorms across the south central Arizona deserts during the evening hours on June 30th. The storms produced strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph which moved over dry ground and stirred up significant quantities of dust.

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 PSR wrote it up.

Excessive heat combined with modest amounts of moisture to generate isolated high based thunderstorms across the south central Arizona deserts during the evening hours on June 30th. The storms produced strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph which moved over dry ground and stirred up significant quantities of dust. This led to dust storm conditions across portions of northwest Pinal county and eastern portions of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Dust storm warnings were issued for the central deserts including the Phoenix metropolitan area...and numerous storm spotters reported visibilities at or below one quarter of a mile in dense blowing dust.

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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 30, 5:00 PM MST, 4 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 5:00 PM MST, 4 hours 28 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 30, 9:16 PM MST, 12 minutes before
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Event by event

2 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Storm, Central Deserts

When
June 30, 9:28 PM MST to 10:51 PM MST
Where
Central Deserts forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

Excessive daytime heating combined with some mid level moisture to produce isolated high based thunderstorms across the central deserts during the evening hours on June 30th. At about 9 pm, a strong thunderstorm developed near Toltec and this storm produced strong gusty winds in excess of 45 mph. The gusty winds generated areas of dense blowing dust, and dust storm conditions across much of the central deserts, affecting communities such as Casa Grande, Arizola, Maricopa and the San Tan Valley. Several trained weather spotters reported dense blowing dust with visibility down to one quarter mile or below. At 930 pm, a spotter 4 miles north of Casa Grande reported visibility down to 100 yards in a dust storm. At 945 pm a spotter in the San Tan Valley reported 35 mph winds along with one quarter mile visibility. Fortunately, no serious accidents were reported due to the dense blowing dust.

Dust Storm, Greater Phoenix Area

When
June 30, 9:57 PM MST to 11:59 PM MST
Where
Greater Phoenix Area forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

Excessive heat and increasing mid level moisture led to isolated evening thunderstorms over portions of Pinal county on June 30th. The storms produced gusty winds in excess of 45 mph, which spread to the northwest and picked up significant amounts of dust. As a result, dust storm conditions developed across the eastern portions of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the late evening hours. Several trained weather spotters reported dense blowing dust reducing visibilities below one quarter of a mile. At 1003 pm, a trained spotter near Power Road and 202 San Tan Freeway reported one quarter mile visibility in blowing dust. Similar conditions were reported one mile northwest of Arizona State University at 1053 pm. Another trained spotter 2 miles northwest of the Arizona State Fair reported a dust storm with one quarter mile visibility at 11 pm. In general, the winds reported by the spotters were less than 30 mph at the time of the dust storm. No accidents were reported due to the dense blowing dust.

What these are

Dust Storm
Blowing dust that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less.

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, 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 461335, 461337.