The Swisshelms Fire started on June 27th, possibly due to spotting from the smaller Saddle Fire which was ongoing to its south. The Swisshelms Fire quickly spread due to strong winds and was not fully contained until July 10th, after nearly 11,000 acres had been burned.
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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.
The Swisshelms Fire started on June 27th, possibly due to spotting from the smaller Saddle Fire which was ongoing to its south. The Swisshelms Fire quickly spread due to strong winds and was not fully contained until July 10th, after nearly 11,000 acres had been burned.
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 Jun 27, 9:00 AM MST, 4 hours earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tucson AZ 900 AM MST Tue Jun 27 2017 .SYNOPSIS...Dry conditions through Friday except for a few thunderstorms this afternoon southeast of Tucson. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms will then return mainly east to south of Tucson by early next week. Seasonably hot daytime temperatures will prevail into this weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Mid morning water vapor imagery reveals dry air across the region, with a sharp gradient of dry low level air cutting across Arizona from north to south. This is also reflected in surface dewpoints as values are generally in the mid 20s across western Arizona while lingering in the upper 40s/lower 50s east of Tucson. Nearly all available incoming 12Z guidance has captured this trend well and indicate the drying trend will continue through the afternoon/evening hours. NCAR ensemble suggests convection across Cochise and Santa Cruz Co's later today. Past few runs of the HRRR are a bit less enthusiastic and keep storms confined to New Mexico and Mexico. Until BL moisture is sufficiently scoured out late tonight or tomorrow, it still seems plausible that mountain showers and storms will develop, albeit with far less areal coverage than what has been seen as of late. Inherited digital forecast grids look good across the board and agree well with 12Z model and 09Z ensemble trends. Only minor changes will be made based on observational data. .AVIATION...Valid thru 28/18Z. SKC-FEW clouds at 10-15k ft AGL from KTUS west, and FEW-SCT clouds at 8-12k ft AGL east and south of KTUS thru the forecast period. Isolated SHRA/TSRA this afternoon near the Int'l border including KDUG and KOLS. SFC wind variable at less than 12 kts this morning. SFC wind this afternoon 12-16 kts with gusts of 20-25 kts possible, especially at KTUS/KSAD. Aviation discussion not updated for TAF amendments. && .FIRE WEATHER...Isolated thunderstorms across the southern portion of Fire Weather Zone 152 this afternoon. Dry conditions are then expected area-wide through Friday, with isolated to scattered convection returning to a few spots Saturday into early next week. Breezy west to northwest 20-ft winds of 15 to 20 mph are likely during the afternoon hours through Thursday, especially in the upper Gila River Valley. Speeds will then generally remain less than 15 mph into early next week. However, periods of erratic gustiness may occur due to strong daytime heating and/or thunderstorm outflows. && .PREV DISCUSSION... As high pressure shifts south and southwest of the area, we will see a drier westerly flow along with temperatures slowly falling closer to average values for late June. Today much like yesterday, with temperatures below excessive heat levels, but still several degrees above average. Still a little mainly mid level moisture in the atmosphere, but precipitable water values will start to slip below 1 inch today, while surface dew points mix into the 30s or even upper 20s later this afternoon. The trends in western Mexico are continuing upward over the past 24 hours. We need the high to shift into a more open position to our east, and signs are that will happen early next week. That should in turn reintroduce easterly wave activity at a higher latitude across Mexico and support deeper moisture intrusions. Thunderstorm trends will be up early next week, but it's unclear how far north things will progress. A fairly safe bet that at least portions of Santa Cruz and Cochise Counties will see activity return by Sunday. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...None. && Leins/Meyer/French Visit us on Facebook...Twitter...YouTube...and at weather.gov/Tucson
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Swisshelms Fire started on June 27th in the Swisshelms Mountains and spread quickly due to strong winds. By the end of June the fire had consumed 7250 acres. The fire was not fully contained until July 10th after a total of 10,950 acres burned.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, June 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: 711000.