Northwesterly flow was present across much of southern Arizona due to high pressure located over southern California. A few storms were able to form over Greenlee and eastern Cochise Counties.
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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.
Northwesterly flow was present across much of southern Arizona due to high pressure located over southern California. A few storms were able to form over Greenlee and eastern Cochise Counties. Damaging winds occurred in Greenlee County.
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 17, 2:45 PM MST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 245 PM MST MON AUG 17 2015 .SYNOPSIS...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR MAINLY EAST AND SOUTH OF TUCSON INTO THIS EVENING FOLLOWED BY DRY CONDITIONS AREA WIDE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN BY FRIDAY AND THEN INCREASE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. DAYTIME HIGHS WILL SLOWLY FALL BACK TOWARD SEASONAL AVERAGES THIS WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...NORTHERLY COMPONENT TO OUR FLOW IS DRYING THINGS OUT THIS AFTERNOON. WE'RE STILL SEEING SOME RESPECTABLE PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ON CIRA LPW TOTALS FROM TUCSON SOUTHWARD FOR THE TIME BEING. THIS MATCHES UP WITH OUR MOST ACTIVE CU FIELDS THIS AFTERNOON...BUT SO FAR OUR ONLY LIGHTNING STRIKES HAVE BEEN NEAR THE NEW MEXICO BORDER AND SOUTH OF THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER. CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR ANOTHER STRONG COMPLEX IN SONORA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...SO KEEP AN EYE OUT TO OUR SOUTH. THE DRYING TREND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY OR SO. IT'S NOT OFTEN WE HAVE A ZERO PROBABILITY OF PRECIPITATION IN AN AUGUST FORECAST...BUT THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. NOT AS HOT AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT EITHER. AS HEIGHTS AND THICKNESSES CONTINUE TO SLOWLY RELAX FROM RECENT RECORD LEVELS OVER THE WEEKEND...AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL FALL BACK TO READINGS ONLY A FEW DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE FOR MID TO LATE AUGUST. THE UNSEASONABLE PATTERN...WITH A RIDGE UPSTREAM AND A TROUGH DOWNSTREAM...WILL RELAX LATER THIS WEEK AS A ZONAL FLOW SETS UP OVER MUCH OF THE CONUS. THIS WILL ALLOW MOISTURE TO START TO SEEP BACK INTO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA BY LATER THURSDAY INTO THE COMING WEEKEND. THAT WILL BRING A FEW THUNDERSTORMS BACK TO THE AREA...BUT A WEAK FLOW AND MODEST FORCING WOULD ADD UP TO LOW GRADE THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE FRIDAY. WE SHOULD MANAGE ENOUGH ADDITIONAL MOISTURE BY THIS WEEKEND TO APPROACH AVERAGE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER THE WEEKEND. EARLY NEXT WEEK BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF ARE TRYING TO SET UP SOME FLAVOR OF RIDGE THROUGH THE DESERT SOUTHWEST WITH LOOSE HIGH CENTER CONSOLIDATION NEAR THE 4 CORNERS REGION. A HINT OF THE CLASSIC MONSOON PATTERN THAT WE HAVE BEEN LACKING FOR EXTENDED STRETCHES THIS SUMMER. && .AVIATION...VALID THRU 19/00Z. SCT TO LOCALLY BKN CLOUDS ABV 10K FT AGL WITH ISOLATED TO SCATTERED - TSRA/-SHRA WELL EAST AND SOUTH OF KTUS THRU 18/06Z THEN SKIES CLEARING. BRIEF WIND GUSTS OF 30-40 KTS MAY OCCUR WITH THE STRONGER TSRA. SURFACE WIND THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING WILL BE WLY/NWLY AT 10-20 KTS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 KTS AND AGAIN TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE STRONGEST WIND WILL OCCUR IN THE VICINITY OF KSAD. SURFACE WIND WILL GENERALLY BE LESS THAN 10 KTS AT OTHER TIMES. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WELL EAST AND SOUTH OF TUCSON INTO THIS EVENING. THEN DRY CONDITIONS WILL THEN PREVAIL AREA WIDE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY RETURN TO THE AREA AS EARLY AS THURSDAY...BUT CONSIDERABLY MORE WIDESPREAD COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS FORECAST TO OCCUR FRIDAY. EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TO THEN CONTINUE THIS COMING WEEKEND. OUTSIDE OF THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS....20-FT WINDS WILL BE WEST TO NORTHWEST UP TO 15 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS TODAY AND TUESDAY WITH 15-20 MPH IN THE GILA RIVER VALLEY. 20-FT WINDS WILL BE MOSTLY LESS THAN 10 MPH AT OTHER TIMES. CERNIGLIA && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON MEYER/CERNIGLIA
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 172 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:40 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm wind damage occurred at the Greenlee County Fairgrounds. One power pole was knocked over and the horse stalls building sustaining significant roof damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, August 2015
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: 597787.