Name: Excessive Heat in Arizona, June 29 to 30, 2019
Start: 2019-06-29T10:00
End: 2019-06-30T20:00
Location: Arizona

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
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Winter weather
Heat and drought
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Fire, smoke and dust
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Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 3
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS TWC wrote it up.

Very hot temperatures were experienced in parts of southeast Arizona on June 29th and 30th with several new record high temperatures established. Three heat-related fatalities occurred on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

What forecasters said that day

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 28, 1:14 PM MST, 20 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 28, 1:14 PM MST, 20 hours 46 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Western Pima County

When: June 29, 10:00 AM MST to June 30, 8:00 PM MST
Where: Western Pima County forecast zone
Reported by: County Official
Coordinates: 32.097, -111.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Well above normal temperatures occurred in southeast Arizona June 29th and 30th. Respective high temperatures were 112 and 111 degrees (both new records) at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 110 and 112 (new record) degrees at Ajo, 112 (new record) and 107 degrees at Sells, 109 degrees both days (record tied and new record) at Sasabe, and 105 and 104 degrees (both records) at Nogales Airport. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that heat was the primary cause of death for three adult males during this time frame near Topawa on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Excessive Heat, Tohono O Odham Nation

When: June 29, 10:00 AM MST to June 30, 8:00 PM MST
Where: Tohono O Odham Nation forecast zone
Deaths: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: County Official
Coordinates: 32.501, -111.567 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Well above normal temperatures occurred in southeast Arizona June 29th and 30th. Respective high temperatures were 112 and 111 degrees (both new records) at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 110 and 112 (new record) degrees at Ajo, 112 (new record) and 107 degrees at Sells, 109 degrees both days (record tied and new record) at Sasabe, and 105 and 104 degrees (both records) at Nogales Airport. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that heat was the primary cause of death for three adult males during this time frame near Topawa on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Excessive Heat, Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys

When: June 29, 10:00 AM MST to June 30, 8:00 PM MST
Where: Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys forecast zone
Reported by: County Official
Coordinates: 31.812, -111.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Well above normal temperatures occurred in southeast Arizona June 29th and 30th. Respective high temperatures were 112 and 111 degrees (both new records) at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 110 and 112 (new record) degrees at Ajo, 112 (new record) and 107 degrees at Sells, 109 degrees both days (record tied and new record) at Sasabe, and 105 and 104 degrees (both records) at Nogales Airport. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that heat was the primary cause of death for three adult males during this time frame near Topawa on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Excessive Heat, Tohono O Odham Nation	2019-06-30	18	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct
Excessive Heat, Tohono O Odham Nation	2019-06-30	19	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct
Excessive Heat, Tohono O Odham Nation	2019-06-30	40	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

What these are

Excessive Heat: Heat at or above the local excessive heat warning criteria, or heat that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, June 2019

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 875141, 875142, 875143.