A strong low pressure center moved across the Four Corners area and brought strong northerly winds and blowing dust cross portions of northeast Arizona.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 FGZ wrote it up.
A strong low pressure center moved across the Four Corners area and brought strong northerly winds and blowing dust cross portions of northeast Arizona.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 15, 9:55 AM MST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 955 AM MST SAT MAR 15 2014 .SYNOPSIS...EXPECT GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS TO DEVELOP BY THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO EARLY SUNDAY. MILD DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE NEXT WEEK...WITH NO PRECIPITATION EXPECTED. && .DISCUSSION...NORTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE TODAY AS A SHORTWAVE DIVES SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE 4-CORNERS REGION. LATEST MODELS INDICATE WINDS AT 10 THOUSAND FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL INCREASING TO 40 TO 60 MPH LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. MIXING WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE SURFACE WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH...WITH GUSTS 40 TO 50 MPH LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS ACROSS THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE STATE. THE WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN EXPANDED TO INCLUDE THE EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM AND WHITE MOUNTAINS (SEE PHXNPWFGZ FOR DETAILS). STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS ARE LIKELY TO PERSIST OVERNIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING IN THE DOWNSLOPE AREAS OVER AND JUST SOUTH OF TERRAIN FEATURES. WINDS WILL DIMINISH BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON WITH MODERATING TEMPERATURES. THE NEXT SHORTWAVE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT IS TRENDING STRONGER AND FURTHER SOUTH IN THE LATEST MODELS. IT STILL LOOKS DRY...BUT WINDS ON MONDAY AFTERNOON COULD BECOME STRONG AGAIN...20-30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. MONDAY ALSO DOES NOT LOOK QUITE AS WARM AS WHAT WAS PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED...AND A 5-10 DEGREE DROP IN TEMPERATURES IS ALSO LIKELY FOR TUESDAY BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. EXPECT A DRY WESTERLY FLOW AND MILD TEMPERATURES FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE END OF NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION....FOR THE 18Z PACKAGE...EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. N-NE WINDS 20-30G35KTS OVER HIGHER TERRAIN MAINLY FROM KFLG EAST...THEN DECR BWTN 02-04Z. NE WINDS DVLP AGAIN AFT 16Z SUNDAY. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR AZ PUBLIC ZONES 010-011-013-014-016-017-039-040. && PUBLIC.........JJ AVIATION.......MCS FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 914 AM MST SAT MAR 15 2014 AZZ010-011-013-014-016-017-039-040-160700- CHINLE VALLEY-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN NAVAJO COUNTY- LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY IN APACHE COUNTY- EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-WHITE MOUNTAINS-BLACK MESA AREA- NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS SOUTH OF HWY 264- 914 AM MST SAT MAR 15 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA AND NORTHEAST ARIZONA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL BRING STRONG NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS TO EASTERN ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR APACHE AND NAVAJO COUNTIES. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST COULD ALSO DEVELOP...REDUCING VISIBILITY. SEE THE WIND ADVISORY PRODUCT PHXNPWFGZ FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 dust storm, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Blowing dust reduced the visibility down to less than 1/4 mile at times.
Blowing dust reduced the visibility down to less than 1/4 mile at times along US Highway 160 (Mile post 410) and in the community of Many Farms.
Blowing dust reduced the visibility down to less than 1/4 mile at times.
The St Johns ASOS measured a peak wind gust of 60 MPH at 230 PM. The Petrified Forest National Park reported a peak wind gust of 56 MPH at 327 PM.
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, March 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: 506099, 506100, 506102, 506104.