Numerous thunderstorms moved southwest across southeast Arizona. One thunderstorm produced a brief landspout tornado in the Marana area.
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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.
Numerous thunderstorms moved southwest across southeast Arizona. One thunderstorm produced a brief landspout tornado in the Marana area. Blowing dust reduced visibility to less than a quarter mile along Interstate 10 near Pinal Air Park.
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 Jul 14, 2:26 PM MST, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tucson AZ 226 PM MST Fri Jul 14 2017 .SYNOPSIS...Scattered mainly afternoon and evening will occur into next week. The stronger thunderstorms will produce locally heavy rainfall and strong gusty winds. Daytime temperatures will be near seasonal normals through Saturday, then below average daytime temperatures will prevail for most locations next week. && .DISCUSSION...Slow start to convection today, with scattered activity currently ongoing along the Mogollon Rim and just a few cells over Cochise and southern Santa Cruz counties. The KTWC 170714/18Z release indicates warming at the mid levels. With less cloud cover, most places should reach convective temperature this afternoon, which will still allow for isolated to scattered showers/thunderstorms to develop late this afternoon into the evening hours tonight. Any cells that do develop will move to the southwest at 15-20 mph on decent mid-level northeast flow. Overall, the upper level pattern was defined by a large high pressure ridge over much of the western United States, with one 594 dm high center over northwest Arizona and another over the Texas Panhandle and an inverted trough sandwiched between these two features to our southeast over Chihuahua, Mexico. By Sunday, the high center will consolidate to our north over Utah, as the inverted trough continues it's slow west/northwest progression and the flow turns more easterly. The latest guidance figures and GFS/ECMWF model runs all indicate that the Saturday through Tuesday time frame will be rather active, with deep moisture in place and better dynamics as the inverted trough edges into the region. For Tucson and areas west, precipitation chances will be highest during the late afternoon and evening hours, while areas to the east and along the rim will see convection fire earlier in the afternoon. Mid to late next week, the upper high shifts to our northeast over Colorado, with the flow becoming southeast aloft across southeast Arizona. With no large scale features to key in on, will need to look for more subtle sub-synoptic features to access which day may be more of an "up" day during this time frame. The models have a difficult time handling these situations this far out, so have gone with a standard monsoon forecast of isolated to scattered mainly afternoon/evening showers and thunderstorms and lesser chances during the overnight and early morning hours Wednesday through Friday of next week. Daytime high temperatures will be close to seasonal normals through Saturday, then highs are forecast to be a few degrees below normal, through next week, especially Monday and Tuesday. && .AVIATION...Valid thru 15/23Z. Isolated to scattered -TSRA/-SHRA will occur thru Saturday with the periods for the greatest coverage during the afternoon and evening hours. Brief gusts near 45 kts with the strongest TSRA. Otherwise, VFR conditions with surface wind variable in direction mainly less than 12 kts. Aviation discussion not updated for TAF amendments. && .FIRE WEATHER...Scattered mainly afternoon and evening thunderstorms will prevail into next week. Expect brief strong, gusty and erratic winds due to thunderstorm outflows. Otherwise, 20-foot winds will generally be terrain driven at less than 15 mph. Occasional gusts will occur during the afternoon hours due to daytime heating. High temperatures will be close to seasonal normals into Saturday, then daytime temperatures will be at least a few degrees below normal next week. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...None. && Zell Visit us on Facebook...Twitter...YouTube...and at weather.gov/Tucson
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Tucson AZ 355 PM MST FRI JUL 14 2017 AZZ509>511-142330- Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys including Clifton/Safford-White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties including Hannagan Meadow-Galiuro and Pinaleno Mountains including Mount Graham- 355 PM MST FRI JUL 14 2017 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTH CENTRAL GRAHAM COUNTY UNTIL 430 PM MST... At 354 PM MST, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Safford, moving southwest at 30 mph. Winds in excess of 40 mph and brief heavy rain will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Safford, Thatcher, Solomon, Swift Trail Junction and Frye Mesa Dam. This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio stations and available television stations for additional information and possible warnings from the National Weather Service. LAT...LON 3301 10958 3292 10944 3257 10964 3282 10992 TIME...MOT...LOC 2254Z 034DEG 24KT 3285 10962
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Tucson AZ 438 PM MST FRI JUL 14 2017 AZZ504-506-507-514-150015- Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains including Mount Lemmon/Summerhaven-Southeast Pinal County including Kearny/Mammoth/Oracle-Upper San Pedro River Valley including Sierra Vista/Benson-Tucson Metro Area including Tucson/Green Valley/Marana/Vail- 438 PM MST FRI JUL 14 2017 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN PINAL COUNTY UNTIL 515 PM MST... At 437 PM MST, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along a line extending from near Oracle to 6 miles east of San Manuel. Movement was south at 15 mph. Winds in excess of 40 mph and brief heavy rain will be possible with these storms. Locations impacted include... San Manuel, Oracle, Campo Bonito, Saddlebrooke, Oracle Junction, Biosphere 2, Catalina and Redington. These storms may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio stations and available television stations for additional information and possible warnings from the National Weather Service. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1100 PM MST for southeastern Arizona. LAT...LON 3251 11107 3238 11046 3260 11045 3272 11092 TIME...MOT...LOC 2337Z 012DEG 13KT 3266 11086 3259 11053
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:53 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm wind gust of 64 mph recorded at a state-owned agricultural weather station near Safford. A large tree was downed along Highway 70 in Solomon.
Landspout tornado occurred in the vicinity of Sandario and Barnett Roads. Tornado remained over open desert with no damage noted.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arizona, 2017Warnings in Arizona, July 2017
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: 710987, 710988.