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 31, 9:30 AM MST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 930 AM MST FRI MAY 31 2013 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BRING DRY CONDITIONS WITH WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...THE SHALLOW MOISTURE THAT WAS AROUND YESTERDAY MORNING MADE A RETURN LAST NIGHT INTO THIS MORNING...WITH SURFACE DEWPOINTS HIGHER THEN YESTERDAY. ALMOST MONSOON LIKE FROM TUCSON WEST. THIS MOISTURE ALSO BROUGHT A HAZY SKY TO THE AREA THIS MORNING ALONG WITH WARMER OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES. THE MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE OF THE DAY SURROUNDS THE THIRD ATTEMPT THIS MONTH FOR HITTING 100 DEGREES AT THE TUCSON AIRPORT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2013. 850-700 MB THICKNESS VALUES ON THE MORNING SOUNDING WERE UP VERSUS YESTERDAY AND IF YOU ADD THAT INCREASE TO YESTERDAY AFTERNOON 850-700 MB TKNS VALUE...99 IS PRETTY CERTAIN WITH AN OUTSIDE CHANCE FOR 100. BASED ON 850-700 MB THICKNESS VALUES FOR THIS AFTERNOON 12Z NAM/12Z GFS GOING 98 OR 99...00Z ECMWF/12Z UKMET/12Z CANADIAN INDICATING 100. 14Z HRRR/15Z RAP GOING WITH 99. HOW MUCH OF THIS SHALLOW MOISTURE MIXES OUT WILL ALSO BE A KEY TODAY. OTHERWISE ACROSS SE AZ...HIGHS WILL BE 1-4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. MAY SEE SOME FLAT CU AROUND THIS AFTERNOON ESPECIALLY EAST OF TUCSON AND UP IN THE WHITES. && .AVIATION...SKC THRU SATURDAY MORNING OR 01/15Z. SURFACE WIND THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING WLY/NWLY 10-18 KTS WITH GUSTS OF 20-25 KTS... STRONGEST WIND EAST OF KTUS. OTHERWISE...SURFACE WIND LESS THAN 10 KTS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...DRY CONDITIONS WITH WELL ABOVE NORMAL DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WILL PREVAIL INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. DAYTIME MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO LOWER TEENS WITH FAIR TO POOR OVERNIGHT RECOVERIES. NORMAL DIURNAL WIND TRENDS WILL OCCUR...WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS DUE TO STRONG DAYTIME HEATING. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.
A powerful dust devil removed several dozen roof tiles from two homes in Green Valley. Wind speeds were estimated at 65 mph. A stove vent was also blown off one roof.
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: 448556.