As a ridge of high pressure slid further to the east, strong thunderstorms hit the Tucson metro area. Rainfall amounts ranged from 1 to 2 inches with flash flooding in central to south Tucson.
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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.
As a ridge of high pressure slid further to the east, strong thunderstorms hit the Tucson metro area. Rainfall amounts ranged from 1 to 2 inches with flash flooding in central to south Tucson.
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 Aug 2, 1:30 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 130 PM MST SAT AUG 2 2014 .SYNOPSIS...NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT THANKS TO ABUNDANT MOISTURE AND AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING NORTH ACROSS THE AREA. WITH THE ABUNDANT MOISTURE THAT WILL BE PRESENT...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED WITH STRONGER OR SLOWER MOVING STORMS. DIMINISHING MONSOONAL MOISTURE EARLY NEXT WEEK WILL RESULT IN LESS THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY STARTING MONDAY. && .DISCUSSION...PLENTY OF MOISTURE ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA WITH 1.65 INCHES OF PWAT BASED ON THE 18Z KTWC SPECIAL SOUNDING. LATEST RADAR DEPICTS SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE TOHONO OODHAM NATION INTO WESTERN PIMA COUNTY WITH A BIT MORE ISOLATED STORM COVERAGE MAINLY ACROSS SANTA CRUZ AND COCHISE COUNTY. THESE STORMS HAVE REMAINED RATHER SMALL IN GEOGRAPHICAL SIZE THUS FAR...WITH NO REAL ORGANIZATION OR CLUSTERING OF STORMS. THUS...WHILE A FEW SPOTS ACROSS THE TOHONO OODHAM NATION HAVE SEEN RADAR INDICATED PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF AN INCH IT HAS BEEN RATHER ISOLATED. AS THE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE ACROSS SONORA SWINGS NORTHWARD INTO SOUTHERN ARIZONA THIS EVENING...THE LIFT AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE WILL CONTINUE TO RESULT IN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL THE MAIN THREAT. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM FOR THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. THE MAIN UNCERTAINTY IS HOW WELL ORGANIZED THE STORMS BECOME LATER TODAY. SHOULD THEY REMAIN OF SIMILAR NATURE TO WHAT WE ARE SEEING NOW...IT WILL BE HARD TO ATTAIN WIDESPREAD FLASH FLOODING. EXPECT THE PRECIPITATION TO TAPER OFF ESPECIALLY AFTER MIDNIGHT AS THE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH AND WE GET ON THE BACKSIDE OF THIS SYSTEM. THIS WILL SETUP THE FORECAST AREA FOR LESS CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY ON SUNDAY AS DRIER AIR ALOFT MOVES IN. THE MAIN FOCUS FOR CONVECTION WILL BE FROM TUCSON EASTWARD BUT CERTAINLY EXPECTING CONSIDERABLY FEWER STORMS COMPARED TO THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS. THE DRYING TREND WILL CONTINUE EARLY IN THE WORK WEEK AS THE HIGH ALOFT SHIFTS SOUTH AND EASTWARD INTO NORTHERN MEXICO. THIS WILL RESULT IN SOUTHWEST FLOW AS THE MAIN PLUME OF MOISTURE SHIFTS EAST ALONG THE ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO BORDER WITH GENERALLY A LOW GRADE MONSOON PATTERN THIS UPCOMING WEEK. THERE WILL STILL BE ENOUGH RESIDUAL MOISTURE FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY FROM TUCSON WESTWARD WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EAST OF TUCSON. BY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...THE DRYING WILL BE MORE PRONOUNCED WITH AREAS WEST OF TUCSON EXPECTED TO REMAIN DRY AND GENERALLY SLIGHT CHANCES EAST OF TUCSON WITH THE EXCEPTION OF RIGHT ALONG THE NEW MEXICO BORDER WHERE THE MOISTURE IS A BIT MORE PRONOUNCED. LATER IN THE WEEK THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES IN THE GLOBAL MODELS WITH THE GFS MORE AGGRESSIVE COMPARED TO THE ECMWF WITH RESPECT TO INCREASING MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH. HAVE LEANED TOWARDS THE MORE MOIST SCENARIO WITH MOISTURE AND THUS PRECIPITATION CHANCES GRADUALLY INCREASING BY THE END OF THE WEEK. THE DRYING THIS WEEK WILL ALSO RESULT IN WARMER TEMPERATURES WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO PEAK WEDNESDAY A FEW DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. && .AVIATION...VALID THRU 04/00Z SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED INTO THIS EVENING AS A DISTURBANCE ALOFT MOVES NORTH THROUGH THE AREA...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN. THESE STORMS SHOULD SLOWLY TAPER OFF AFTER 06Z THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS SUNDAY. SCT SHOWERS AND STORMS PSBL AGAIN SUNDAY AFTER 03/19Z MAINLY FROM KTUS EASTWARD. EXPECT LOWERING OF CIGS...REDUCED VSBYS WITH MVFR CONDITIONS ALONG WITH STRONG...GUSTY AND VARIABLE WINDS NEAR THUNDERSTORMS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT AS DEEP MOISTURE REMAINS ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA AIDED BY A DISTURBANCE ALOFT. EXPECT STRONG...GUSTY AND ERRATIC WINDS WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. SEASONALLY HIGH MOISTURE VALUES WILL ALSO TRANSLATE INTO PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND COOLER TEMPERATURES. SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE WILL GRADUALLY LESSEN SUNDAY WITH THE BEST CHANCES FROM TUCSON EASTWARD. A DRYING TREND IS EXPECTED MUCH OF THIS UPCOMING WEEK WITH THE BULK OF THE MOISTURE AND CHANCE FOR STORMS NEAR THE NEW MEXICO BORDER. WARMER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED THIS WEEK AS WELL. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 11 PM ALL ZONES. && VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON GL
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:02 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong thunderstorms brought heavy rainfall to the Tucson area. Rainfall rates of over 2 inches per hours and storm totals of between 1.5 inches and 2.0 inches resulted in flash flooding of the streets of central to south Tucson.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, August 2014
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: 539350.