Hot temperatures and light surface winds were conducive to dust devil development.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 TWC wrote it up.
Hot temperatures and light surface winds were conducive to dust devil development.
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 May 27, 9:10 AM MST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 910 AM MST MON MAY 27 2013 .SYNOPSIS...DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL INTO THIS WEEKEND EXCEPT FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE WHITE MOUNTAINS TUESDAY NIGHT. A COOLING TREND WILL OCCUR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY FOLLOWED BY HOTTER DAYTIME TEMPERATURES BY THIS WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...SATELLITE IMAGERY AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATED BROKEN CIRRIFORM CLOUDS ACROSS SE AZ AT THIS TIME. A VERY DRY SURFACE REGIME PREVAILED WITH DEWPOINTS VALID 16Z RANGING FROM THE SINGLE DIGITS TO MID 20S F. DEWPOINTS WERE GENERALLY 5-10 DEGS F LOWER VERSUS 24 HOURS AGO. SURFACE TEMPS VALID 16Z WERE ABOUT 2-4 DEGS F COOLER VERSUS THIS TIME SUNDAY. 27/12Z KTWC SOUNDING ALSO DEPICTED A DRY ENVIRONMENT...WITH PRECIP WATER NEAR 0.35 INCH. THE COLUMN WAS NEARLY SATURATED IN THE 500-400 MB LAYER. 27/12Z UPPER AIR PLOTS INDICATED TROUGH OVER THE WRN CONUS WITH NORTH-TO-SOUTH RIDGE AXIS OVER THE CENTRAL CONUS PLAINS. THICKER CLOUDS JUST NORTH AND WEST OF THIS FORECAST AREA WERE ASSOCIATED WITH A 90 KT 300 MB SPEED MAX. MID AND HIGH-LEVEL CLOUDS WILL MOVE EWD ACROSS SE AZ TODAY. PERHAPS SOME VIRGA WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CLOUDINESS BUT NO MEASURABLE PRECIP IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR. MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WILL PREVAIL TONIGHT. TUE-WED... 27/00Z GFS/ECMWF WERE VERY SIMILAR WITH THE DEPICTION OF A PROGRESSIVE UPPER TROUGH AXIS ACROSS THE SWRN CONUS TUESDAY FOLLOWED BY NWLY FLOW ALOFT WEDNESDAY. THERE APPEARS TO BE ENOUGH MOISTURE TO JUSTIFY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE WHITE MOUNTAINS TUE NIGHT. OTHERWISE...PRECIP-FREE CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE TUE-WED. A TIGHT MID-LEVEL GRADIENT WILL SUPPORT BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS TUE AFTERNOON...AND BREEZY TO LOCALLY WINDY CONDITIONS AGAIN WED AFTERNOON. A COOLING TREND WILL OCCUR...WITH WEDNESDAY EXPECTED TO BE THE COOLEST DAY OF THIS FORECAST PERIOD. THUR-SUN... DRY CONDITIONS TO OCCUR AS NWLY FLOW ALOFT THUR TRANSITIONS TO WLY FLOW ALOFT BY SUN. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FEATURE WILL BE HOTTER DAYTIME TEMPS. FOR INSTANCE...THE FIRST OCCURRENCE OF 100 F AT KTUS MAY OCCUR FRIDAY...ALTHOUGH CONFIDENCE OF ACHIEVING 100 F IS MORE LIKELY THIS WEEKEND. && .AVIATION...BKN CLOUDS MAINLY ABOVE 15K FT AGL THIS MORNING FOLLOWED BY DECREASING CLOUDS FROM WEST-TO-EAST THIS AFTERNOON. SKC-FEW CLOUDS ABOVE 20K FT AGL TONIGHT THRU EARLY TUESDAY MORNING OR 28/12Z. SURFACE WIND THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING SLY/ SWLY 12-18 KTS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 KTS. OTHERWISE...SURFACE WIND GENERALLY LESS THAN 10 KTS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...EXPECT DRY CONDITIONS INTO THIS WEEKEND EXCEPT FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE WHITE MOUNTAINS TUESDAY NIGHT. BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR TUESDAY AFTERNOON AS A LOW PRESSURE TROUGH MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. THE CONFIDENCE IS QUITE HIGH THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR TUESDAY AFTERNOON ESPECIALLY EAST OF TUCSON. THUS...A RED FLAG WARNING WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED LATER TODAY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONE 146 AND THE EASTERN PORTION OF FIRE WEATHER ZONE 148. EXPECT BREEZY TO LOCALLY WINDY CONDITIONS AGAIN WEDNESDAY. HOWEVER...WIDESPREAD CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE NOT LIKELY TO OCCUR. OTHERWISE A COOLING TREND WILL OCCUR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY FOLLOWED BY HOTTER DAYTIME TEMPERATURES BY THIS WEEKEND. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON BF
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.
A nearly translucent, but powerful dust devil damaged the roof to one home on Tucson's east side.
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, May 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: 448541.