Flood in Arizona, September 14 to 15, 2013

Name: Flood in Arizona, September 14 to 15, 2013
Start: 2013-09-14T04:00
End: 2013-09-15T02:00
Location: Arizona

September 14 to 15, 2013 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Several days in a row of monsoon thunderstorms occurred in east central Arizona and west central New Mexico. Runoff drained into the Blue, San Francisco and Gila Rivers.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 TWC wrote it up.

Several days in a row of monsoon thunderstorms occurred in east central Arizona and west central New Mexico. Runoff drained into the Blue, San Francisco and Gila Rivers. The San Francisco River at Clifton approached flood stage, reaching the bottom of the railroad bridge, and the Highway 191 gates were closed as a precaution, but the only flood damage that occurred was upstream along the Blue River in Greenlee 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 Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 14, 2:31 AM MST, 1 hour 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 14, 2:31 AM MST, 1 hour 29 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
231 AM MST SAT SEP 14 2013

.SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LOW DRIFTING ACROSS NORTHWEST UTAH WILL ALLOW
SOME MOISTURE TO REMAIN THROUGH THIS WEEKEND RESULTING IN MAINLY
ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM TUCSON EAST. DRIER AIR IS
EXPECTED TO MOVE BACK ACROSS THE REGION EARLY NEXT WEEK.
TEMPERATURES WILL SLOWLY RISE THROUGH THE WEEKEND TO SLIGHTLY
ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS BY EARLY NEXT WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...LATEST WV IMAGERY SHOWS THE UPPER LOW NOW ACROSS
NORTHWEST UTAH WITH MAINLY DRY SOUTHWEST MID TO UPPER LEVEL FLOW
ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. MEANWHILE...LOWER LEVEL WINDS BELOW 600 MB
REMAIN MAINLY OUT OF THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST CONTINUING TO BRING IN
MODEST AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE TO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA WITH THE BULK OF THE
MOISTURE REMAINING TO THE EAST OF OUR FORECAST AREA. A FAIRLY
PERSISTENT FORECAST IS EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND AS MODEST LOWER LEVEL
MOISTURE WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES OF ABOUT 1 TO 1.25 INCHES
CONTINUE. THIS MOISTURE WILL COMBINE WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND
INSTABILITY TO RESULT IN ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM
TUCSON EASTWARD TODAY AND SUNDAY. BY MONDAY...THE ATMOSPHERE WILL
GRADUALLY DRY OUT WITH ANY REMAINING SHOWERS ALONG THE NEW MEXICO
BORDER AS RIDGING ALOFT CONTINUES TO BUILD IN. THEREAFTER...DRY
CONDITIONS EXPECTED FOR THE REST OF NEXT WEEK DUE TO MORE WESTERLY
FLOW AS THE RIDGE AXIS MAINLY RESIDES SOUTH OF THE AREA. DAYTIME
TEMPERATURE OF NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL VALUES ARE EXPECTED
THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD WITH MORNING LOW TEMPERATURES SEVERAL
DEGREES ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS.

&&

.AVIATION...VALID THRU 15/12Z.
WEST OF KTUS MOSTLY CLEAR. KTUS EWD/SWD ISOLD-SCTD -TSRA/-SHRA THIS
AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING...AND A FEW -TSRA/-SHRA MAINLY NEAR THE
NEW MEXICO BORDER THIS MORNING AND LATE TONIGHT. OTHERWISE...SCT-BKN
CLOUDS MAINLY AT 6-10K FT AGL THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING...AND
FEW-SCT CLOUDS MOSTLY ABOVE 10K FT AGL THIS MORNING AND LATE
TONIGHT. SURFACE WIND GENERALLY ELY/SELY 5-15 KTS WITH GUSTS TO 20
KTS THRU EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR
TAF AMENDMENTS.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING
THUNDERSTORMS FROM TUCSON EASTWARD AND SOUTHWARD THIS WEEKEND. DRY
CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL WEST TO NORTHWEST OF TUCSON. ISOLATED
AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LIMITED TO FIRE ZONE 146
AND EASTERN FIRE ZONE 148 EAST OF TUCSON MONDAY. THEREAFTER...DRY
CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. 20-FOOT WINDS WILL
BE MOSTLY FROM THE EAST TO SOUTHEAST THROUGH ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE
UPCOMING WEEK. A WARMING TREND WILL OCCUR INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK
FOLLOWED BY DAYTIME TEMPERATURES REMAINING A FEW DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...THE UPPER GILA RIVER BASIN AROUND GLENWOOD N.M...RED
ROCK N.M...CLIFTON...MORENCI AND DOWNSTREAM TO SAFFORD HAS SATURATED
SOILS. THESE CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE RAPID RUNOFF DURING HIGH RAINFALL
RATES OR EXTENDED RAIN EPISODES...AND ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. ADDITIONALLY THE THREAT OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS REMAINS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. ANY HIGH PRECIPITATION
AMOUNTS COULD CAUSE RISES IN THE BLUE...SAN FRANCISCO...EAGLE CREEK
AND UPPER GILA RIVERS.

&&

.TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Greenlee

When: September 14, 4:00 AM MST to September 15, 2:00 AM MST
Where: Greenlee County, 3.76 mi N of Sprucedale to 8.33 mi ENE of Granville
Cause: Heavy Rain / Burn Area
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 33.754, -109.188

During the evening of September 13th, heavy rain occurred along the Campbell Blue Creek near the headwaters of the Blue River in Arizona, which was an area that was affected by the 2011 Wallow Fire. Heavy rain also fell along Turkey Creek in Arizona and the Dry Blue Creek in New Mexico. Runoff continued downstream to the confluence of the Campbell Blue and Dry Blue Creeks, which forms the Blue River. In addition, heavy rain occurred during the evening of the 14th in Arizona and New Mexico, swelling the tributaries of the Blue River upstream of the community of Blue, Arizona. Multiple crests in the Blue River two to four feet above flood stage resulted. Sections of Blue River Road were washed out, isolating residents of the community. The Campbell Blue Bridge, which is a 30 foot concrete bridge just across the state line in New Mexico, was completely washed out. Electrical and telephone lines were damaged by the flooding. A utility company truck rolled into Turkey Creek after the adjacent flood-compromised road gave way. The driver was able to escape the six foot deep flowing water without injury.

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arizona in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, September 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: 478186.