High pressure was located near the four corners region resulting in moderate southerly flow over southeast Arizona. Thunderstorm wind damage occurred in Marana.
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.
High pressure was located near the four corners region resulting in moderate southerly flow over southeast Arizona. Thunderstorm wind damage occurred in Marana.
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 25, 9:55 AM MST, 3 hours 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 955 AM MST TUE AUG 25 2015 .SYNOPSIS...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A DECREASE IN THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL THEN OCCUR STARTING THURSDAY AND ESPECIALLY BY THIS WEEKEND AS HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILDS OVER THE AREA. A WARMING TREND WILL ALSO OCCUR DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...WITH PERHAPS NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES THIS WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...IR/VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES MOSTLY CLOUDY TO CLOUDY SKIES ACROSS SE ARIZONA AT THIS TIME. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTED A CYCLONIC CIRCULATION FEATURE CENTERED IN NWRN SONORA NW OF HERMOSILLO...AND ANOTHER CYCLONIC CIRCULATION TWIST NEAR GLOBE AZ. DEWPOINTS AT LOWER ELEVATIONS VALID 16Z WERE IN THE LOWER-MID 60S...AND 25/12Z KTWC SOUNDING TOTAL PRECIP WATER VALUE WAS 1.73 INCHES. THE 25/12Z KTWC SOUNDING ALSO DEPICTED FAIRLY STOUT GENERALLY SLY MID-LEVEL FLOW. 25/12Z UNIV OF AZ WRF-NAM AND SEVERAL HRRR SOLUTIONS WERE SIMILAR WITH DEPICTING SHOWERS/TSTMS TO DEVELOP GENERALLY ACROSS SEVERAL MOUNTAIN CHAINS SOUTH-TO-SOUTHEAST OF TUCSON BY AROUND 19Z. FAIRLY QUICK NORTH-TO-NORTHWEST STORM MOTIONS SHOULD THEN OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON AS PER THESE SOLUTIONS. HAVE OPTED TO INCREASE THE INHERITED GRIDDED DATA POPS FOR THIS AFTERNOON GENERALLY ABOUT 10-20 PERCENT BASED ON THESE SOLUTIONS AS WELL AS COORD WITH NEIGHBORING WFO/S. THUS...SCATTERED TO PERHAPS NUMEROUS SHOWERS/TSTMS SHOULD PREVAIL INTO THIS EVENING FOLLOWED BY ISOLATED SHOWERS/TSTMS LATE TONIGHT. THE MAIN CONCERN WITH SHOWERS/ TSTMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL. HOWEVER...THE FAIRLY FAST STORM MOTIONS SHOULD MITIGATE THIS THREAT. A BRIEF STRONG WIND GUST OR SO MAY OCCUR...BUT THIS THREAT ALSO APPEARS TO BE FAIRLY MINIMAL. HIGH TEMPS THIS AFTERNOON ARE FORECAST TO GENERALLY BE ABOUT 3-8 DEGS F COOLER VERSUS MON. PLEASE REFER TO THE ADDITIONAL SECTIONS FOR FURTHER DETAIL. && .AVIATION...VALID THRU 26/18Z. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS -TSRA/-SHRA WILL OCCUR INTO TUESDAY MORNING. MVFR CONDITIONS AND BRIEF WIND GUSTS MAINLY TO 40 KTS WILL OCCUR WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. OTHERWISE...CLOUD DECKS WILL GENERALLY RANGE FROM 8-12K FT AGL AND SURFACE WIND WILL BE MAINLY LESS THAN 10 KTS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A REDUCTION IN THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL THEN OCCUR THURSDAY...THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS MAINLY EAST OF TUCSON FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THE DRYING TREND WILL PRODUCE A WARMING TREND DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK...WITH NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES POSSIBLE BY THIS WEEKEND. && .PREV DISCUSSION /346 AM MST/...BY WEDNESDAY THE HIGH SHOULD BE OVER THE TEXAS PANHANDLE WITH SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...WITH STILL PLENTY OF MOISTURE ACROSS THE REGION...WITH PW'S EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM AROUND 1 INCH TO THE EXTREME EAST AND 1.4-1.5 OVER CENTRAL LOCATIONS AND 1.5-1.7 FOR THE WEST. SO...POPS AGAIN SCATTERED IN NATURE FOR ALL BUT EXTREME WESTERN ZONES WHERE JUST ISOLATED. A SIMILAR FORECAST FOR THURSDAY. BY FRIDAY THE HIGH RETROGRADES TO A POSITION NEARLY OVERHEAD AND THIS CONTINUES ON SATURDAY. PW'S PROGGED TO BE 1.0 INCHES EAST...1.2 CENTRAL AND 1.4 WEST. THAT SAID...LOOKING AT MAINLY ISOLATED TO LOW END MAINLY MOUNTAIN STORMS BOTH DAYS FROM TUCSON EASTWARD. BY SUNDAY AND INTO MONDAY HIGH BECOMES ORIENTED SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST FROM CENTRAL BAJA ACROSS NORTHERN MEXICO AND INTO EASTERN NEW MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS. THIS IS IN RESPONSE TO AN UPSTREAM TROUGH AND MODELS SHOWING A SLIGHT MOISTURE PLUME ACROSS PARTS OF ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO WITH AN UPTICK IN ACTIVITY BY MONDAY...MAINLY EAST. FOR TUCSON...HIGHS GENERALLY AT OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TODAY... THEN NEAR NORMAL WEDNESDAY. THEREAFTER...HIGHS AROUND 4 TO 8 DEGS ABOVE NORMAL WITH THE WARMEST DAYS FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON FRANCIS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 130 PM MST TUE AUG 25 2015 AZZ503-504-252115- UPPER SANTA CRUZ RIVER AND ALTAR VALLEYS INCLUDING NOGALES AZ- TUCSON METRO AREA INCLUDING TUCSON/GREEN VALLEY/MARANA/VAIL AZ- 130 PM MST TUE AUG 25 2015 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EAST CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY UNTIL 215 PM MST... AT 129 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER GREEN VALLEY AREA...MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH. WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... GREEN VALLEY...SAHUARITA...EAST SAHUARITA AND SUMMIT. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD TO MINOR STREET FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS. && LAT...LON 3176 11089 3178 11110 3203 11112 3204 11079 TIME...MOT...LOC 2029Z 187DEG 16KT 3185 11099
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 35 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:37 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A pepper tree was uprooted by thunderstorm winds in Green Valley.
A palm tree was struck by lightning near the 3500 block of S. Austin Place. This resulted in multiple windows blown out of a nearby duplex.
Downed power lines in Marana resulted in multiple road closures, and up to 1000 customers without power. At least 20 power poles were knocked over by wind on Twin Peaks Road alone, which trapped 6 vehicles and 11 people in their cars for a period of time. In addition, a 51 kt wind gust was measured at Marana Airport.
Local police report a tree was struck by lightning near Benson.
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: 599929, 599906, 599925, 599908.