A broad ridge of high pressure was in place over the western half of the country. Relatively dry air, weak flow, and little instability forced isolated pulse-type storms with slow movement.
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.
A broad ridge of high pressure was in place over the western half of the country. Relatively dry air, weak flow, and little instability forced isolated pulse-type storms with slow movement. Wind damage was reported northwest of Tucson in conjunction with one of the stronger cells and a brief landspout occurred in southeast 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 29, 1:50 PM MST, 48 minutes earlier.
ZCZC PHXWRKAFD 291903 TTAA00 KPHX DDHHMM AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 150 PM MST SAT AUG 29 2015 .SYNOPSIS...A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. GRADUALLY DRIER CONDITIONS WILL THEN LIMIT THUNDERSTORMS TO EAST OF TUCSON THE SECOND HALF OF NEXT WEEK. HOTTER THAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS FOLLOWED BY TEMPERATURES FALLING TO NEAR AVERAGE AROUND THE MIDDLE OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...SATELLITE AND RADAR IMAGERY WERE SHOWING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. MOST OF THE ACTIVITY HAS BEEN IN THE MOUNTAINS BUT A FEW HAVE MANAGED TO DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN DESERTS OF PIMA COUNTY AROUND THE TOWNS OF WHY AND AJO. THE WINDS ALOFT REMAINED RATHER LIGHT SO THE STORMS HAVE BEEN VERY PULSE LIKE IN NATURE WITH LITTLE MOVEMENT SO FAR. LATEST HRRR CONTINUED TO SHOW SMALL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DOTTED ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA THROUGH LATE THIS EVENING. MUCH MORE THAN SUGGESTED BY THE MORNING UPPER-AIR SOUNDING AT KTWC. AT ANY RATE...LOOKING AT MORE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY COMPARED TO YESTERDAY ALREADY. MODELS SUGGEST ANOTHER RATHER ACTIVE DAY FOR SUNDAY AS WELL...WITH A LITTLE MORE ORGANIZED THUNDERSTORMS RATHER THAN PULSE IN NATURE. THEREAFTER... THUNDERSTORMS WILL DIMINISH IN COVERAGE EACH DAY AS A DRIER SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW EVOLVES IN RESPONSE TO A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM PASSES THROUGH THE NORTHERN TIER STATES. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL...THEN LOWER TO NEAR SEASONAL READINGS AROUND WEDNESDAY. && .AVIATION...VALID THRU 31/00Z. SCT TO LOCALLY BKN CLOUDS AT 8-12 KFT AGL. ISOLD SHRA/TSRA INCREASING IN COVERAGE THIS AFTERNOON WITH KDUG AND KOLS TERMINALS LIKELY AFFECTED DIRECTLY. FOR THE KTUS TERMINAL TSRA WILL DEVELOP OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN AROUND THE AREA WITH A SMALL CHANCE OF ONE AFFECTING THE TERMINAL 29/22Z THRU 30/02Z. BRIEF MVFR CONDITIONS AND GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 KTS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN AND AROUND STRONGER STORMS. AFTER 30/05Z SKIES CLEARING WITH A REPEAT ON SUNDAY WITH RESPECT TO CLOUD AND SHRA/TSRA REDEVELOPMENT. OUTSIDE OF THUNDERSTORM INFLUENCE SURFACE WINDS WILL GENERALLY BE UNDER 10 KTS. AFTER AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY EVENING BEFORE DYING OFF LATE EVENING HOURS. PRIME CONCERN IS STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN DUE TO SLOW MOTIONS. THIS BASIC IDEA WILL CONTINUE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH DAILY AFTERNOON AND EVENING STORMS EXPECTED. STARTING MONDAY STORMS WILL TEND TO BE MORE FOCUSED OVER EASTERN ZONES...WITH SIGNIFICANTLY DIMINISHED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY FROM WEDNESDAY ON. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE WET AND AS IS TYPICAL MAY PRODUCE STRONG...GUSTY AND ERRATIC WINDS WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. THROUGH SUNDAY GENERALLY LIGHT TERRAIN DRIVEN WINDS ARE EXPECTED. FROM MONDAY ONWARD A WEST TO SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL GRADUALLY DEVELOP ACROSS ARIZONA. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE ACROSS ZONE 150...PEAKING IN THE 15-20 MPH RANGE. THIS FLOW WILL ALSO STEADILY PUSH THE MOISTURE OUT OF THE REGION FOR DECREASING CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...YOUTUBE...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 1225 PM MST SAT AUG 29 2015 AZZ507-508-513-292015- EASTERN COCHISE COUNTY BELOW 5000 FEET INCLUDING DOUGLAS/WILLCOX AZ- DRAGOON/MULE/HUACHUCA AND SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS INCLUDING BISBEE/CANELO HILLS/MADERA CANYON AZ- UPPER SAN PEDRO RIVER VALLEY INCLUDING SIERRA VISTA/BENSON AZ- 1225 PM MST SAT AUG 29 2015 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR WEST CENTRAL COCHISE COUNTY UNTIL 115 PM MST... AT 1225 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES SOUTH OF DRAGOON...MOVING WEST AT 5 MPH. WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... SAINT DAVID. LAT...LON 3200 10999 3183 10995 3174 11020 3200 11026 TIME...MOT...LOC 1925Z 079DEG 6KT 3190 11006
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
236 PM MST SAT AUG 29 2015
AZZ503-504-507-513-292215-
UPPER SANTA CRUZ RIVER AND ALTAR VALLEYS INCLUDING NOGALES AZ-
TUCSON METRO AREA INCLUDING TUCSON/GREEN VALLEY/MARANA/VAIL AZ-
DRAGOON/MULE/HUACHUCA AND SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS INCLUDING
BISBEE/CANELO HILLS/MADERA CANYON AZ-
UPPER SAN PEDRO RIVER VALLEY INCLUDING SIERRA VISTA/BENSON AZ-
236 PM MST SAT AUG 29 2015
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHEASTERN SANTA CRUZ AND EAST
CENTRAL PIMA COUNTIES UNTIL 315 PM MST...
AT 234 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING SEVERAL STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS NEAR MADERA CANYON AND SONOITA...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 5
MPH.
WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
GREEN VALLEY...SAHUARITA...RIO RICO NORTHEAST...TUBAC...
TUMACACORI-CARMEN...RIO RICO SOUTHEAST...PATAGONIA LAKE...SONOITA...
AMADO...ARIVACA JUNCTION...MADERA CANYON AND ELGIN.
THESE STORMS MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO
AND TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
LAT...LON 3193 11072 3178 11066 3172 11048 3146 11092
3159 11107 3183 11108
TIME...MOT...LOC 2134Z 048DEG 4KT 3178 11082
CARLAWThe Tucson radar (KEMX), 24 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:36 UTC.
1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A faint and likely weak landspout tornado spun up from a dust devil before attaching to the cloud base near Interstate 10 and Houghton.
Thunderstorm winds downed nine power poles near Manville and Reservation Roads.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arizona, 2015Warnings 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: 599896, 597818.