Scattered thunderstorms developed over Santa Cruz and southwest Cochise County during the afternoon and moved southwest through the evening. Storms produced heavy rain and large hail in the Elgin/Sonoita area and one storm uprooted trees at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park.
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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.
Scattered thunderstorms developed over Santa Cruz and southwest Cochise County during the afternoon and moved southwest through the evening. Storms produced heavy rain and large hail in the Elgin/Sonoita area and one storm uprooted trees at Tubac Presidio State Historic 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 Aug 2, 2:09 PM MST, 3 hours 51 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tucson AZ 209 PM MST Sun Aug 2 2020 .SYNOPSIS...The strong ridge of high pressure responsible for our hotter than average temperatures will gradually weaken in the coming days, although the hotter than normal temperatures will continue through next week. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms will develop each afternoon as well, though Monday and Tuesday look to be a little less active compared to the rest of the week. && .DISCUSSION...Thunderstorms erupted over the White Mountains on schedule although it is running just about an hour or so behind elsewhere. The slower heating thanks to the thick smoke layer overhead slowed things up. Starting to see convection starting to bubble over a few of the east sky island areas at this time and would expect this to continue over the next hour or two. Then we should see isolated to scattered convection about the area mainly east, south and potentially southwest of Tucson although likely not as vigorous as it could have been without the dense smoke layer. Any convection that develops should shut down by midnight. The upper high will center itself over the area Monday as it slowly oozes eastward which will help to suppress the convection, generally confining it to the international border area and up over the White mountains. Temperatures will be quite warm and flirting with heat warning thresholds but opted to not go that route at this time. If the Apple Fire in California has another active burn period later today, smoke could impact our temperatures again tomorrow afternoon. For Tuesday into Wednesday, the center of the high will continue to move east with an upper trough moving onto the west coast. This will induce just enough of a southerly flow that we should be able to spread thunderstorms just a bit further north Tuesday and even more so Wednesday. This will result in a trimming of the afternoon temperatures by a few degrees. By Thursday and/or Friday depending on timing, the upper trough strengthens along the west coast increasing the southwest flow aloft over the area which will eventually force the moisture over the area off to the east if this comes to pass. However during the transition of having lingering moisture and stronger mid-level flow could make for more organized convection We will see how that plays out with time. The drier southwest flow looks to linger through next weekend at this time which would translate into drier and warmer conditions once again with any convection confined fairly close to the southern and/or eastern border areas. && .AVIATION...Valid through 04/00Z. FEW-SCT clouds (locally BKN) at 10k-15k ft MSL much of the period. Isolated to scattered -TSRA/-SHRA into this evening. Wind gusts to near 45 kts may occur at times with the stronger -TSRA. Otherwise, NWLY SFC wind at 8-14 kts with gusts around 20 kts into this evening. The strongest speeds will occur in the Upper Gila River Valley near KSAD. Winds decrease overnight to less than 10 kts. Isolated -TSRA/-SHRA return Monday afternoon south and east of KTUS with sfc wind WLY/NWLY mainly less than 12 kts. Aviation discussion not updated for TAF amendments. && .FIRE WEATHER...Hot temperatures continue this week. Expect isolated to scattered mainly afternoon and evening thunderstorms favoring locations east to south of Tucson through Tuesday. Coverage of thunderstorms extends further westward by midweek to include much of the area. By the weekend, thunderstorms will once again be limited to areas east to south of Tucson. Except for some slightly elevated 20-foot northwest winds in the upper Gila River valley through Monday, 20-foot winds winds will generally follow typical diurnal trends at less than 15 mph apart. However, thunderstorms may produce wind gusts in excess of 40 mph. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && Public...Cerniglia Aviation...Carpenter Fire Weather....Carpenter Visit us on Facebook...Twitter...YouTube...and at weather.gov/Tucson
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
209 PM MST Sun Aug 2 2020
AZZ510-022145-
White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties including Hannagan
Meadow-
209 PM MST Sun Aug 2 2020
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTH CENTRAL GRAHAM AND
NORTHWESTERN GREENLEE COUNTIES UNTIL 245 PM MST...
At 208 PM MST, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 9
miles west of Hannagan Meadow, or 38 miles south of Springerville,
moving southwest at 15 mph.
Penny size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with
this storm.
This storm will remain over mainly remote areas of north central
Graham and northwestern Greenlee Counties.
LAT...LON 3360 10937 3340 10951 3351 10974 3352 10973
3354 10968 3358 10967 3359 10962 3361 10960
3362 10957 3362 10953 3367 10948
TIME...MOT...LOC 2108Z 059DEG 14KT 3361 10949
AHSpecial Weather Statement National Weather Service Tucson AZ 445 PM MST Sun Aug 2 2020 AZZ509-030015- Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys including Clifton/Safford- 445 PM MST Sun Aug 2 2020 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL GRAHAM COUNTY UNTIL 515 PM MST... At 445 PM MST, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 8 miles northwest of Thatcher, or 11 miles northwest of Safford, moving southeast at 5 mph. Dime size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Safford, Thatcher, Safford Regional Airport, Pima, Central and Fort Thomas. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Heavy rainfall is also occurring with this storm, and may lead to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways. && LAT...LON 3276 10973 3296 11009 3309 10996 3287 10957 TIME...MOT...LOC 2345Z 297DEG 5KT 3291 10988
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Tucson AZ 515 PM MST Sun Aug 2 2020 AZZ507-513-030045- Upper San Pedro River Valley including Sierra Vista/Benson-Dragoon/Mule/Huachuca and Santa Rita Mountains including Bisbee/Canelo Hills/Madera Canyon- 515 PM MST Sun Aug 2 2020 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHWESTERN COCHISE COUNTY UNTIL 545 PM MST... At 515 PM MST, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Fort Huachuca, or near Sierra Vista, moving south at 20 mph. Dime size hail and winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Sierra Vista, Hereford, Fort Huachuca, Ramsey Canyon Preserve and Coronado National Memorial. LAT...LON 3160 11040 3160 11024 3135 11022 3136 11042 TIME...MOT...LOC 0015Z 001DEG 17KT 3150 11032 TGD
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Tucson AZ 600 PM MST Sun Aug 2 2020 AZZ503-030145- Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys including Nogales- 600 PM MST Sun Aug 2 2020 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL SANTA CRUZ COUNTY UNTIL 645 PM MST... At 559 PM MST, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Tubac, moving southeast at 15 mph. Pea sized hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Tubac, Rio Rico, Patagonia Lake State Park and Tumacacori. LAT...LON 3161 11113 3167 11099 3147 11083 3141 11107 TIME...MOT...LOC 0059Z 334DEG 11KT 3157 11103 AH
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:01 UTC.
3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed two Chilean mesquite trees and uprooted a Ponderosa pine tree at the Tubac Presidio Historic Park.
KOLS ASOS at Nogales Airport recorded a wind gust to 59 mph.
Around 1.5 of rain fell in less than an hour in the Elgin area causing 8 to 12 inches of water to flow across Elgin Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, August 2020
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: 919410, 919411, 919395, 919414, 919418, 919429.