Scattered thunderstorms developed and moved northwest across southeast Arizona in a pattern than resembled the monsoon. Some thunderstorms produced wind damage in the Tucson Metro 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.
Scattered thunderstorms developed and moved northwest across southeast Arizona in a pattern than resembled the monsoon. Some thunderstorms produced wind damage in the Tucson Metro area.
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 May 14, 2:46 AM MST, 11 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tucson AZ 246 AM MST Sun May 14 2023 .SYNOPSIS...A broad moisture increase from the east will bring increasing chances of showers and thunderstorms through most of the week. Strong gusty outflows from storms will lead to erratic wind conditions at times. && .DISCUSSION...As expected, convection in New Mexico and Chihuahua pushed strong thunderstorm outflows across SE AZ overnight. Multiple boundaries bouncing around out there with some gusts up to 45 mph. Surface dewpoints behind the boundaries have jumped into the 40s and lower 50s. Broad flow will continue to favor importing additional moisture into the area from the east and southeast over the next 48 to 72 hours, with ensemble mean integrated water vapor transport one of several indicators suggesting an increasing likelihood for widespread 50+ dewpoints and precipitable water values near or over 1 inch by Monday or Tuesday. For today, available moisture will likely give us a mix of dry and rain producing thunderstorms. Even storms that generate rainfall will tend to have narrow rain producing cores. The relatively dry subcloud environment and solid shear will make for a very easy day to create strong thunderstorm outflows. In addition, dry lightning and strong erratic winds may lead to a volatile wildfire threat. With the low that is still expected to be near the central Baja coast the second half of the week, some ensemble members continue to suggest a modest eastern Pacific moisture component up the Sierra Madres. This may end up being the biggest factor in seeing how long we can keep enough moisture for thunderstorms as some flavor of troughiness returns to our east. Considering a likely tendency for the low to lift slowly northward with ridging developing across Mexico and high pressure reconsolidating to our north, a chance of thunderstorms continuing through next weekend and maybe even into early next week is not at all out of the question. && .AVIATION...Valid through 15/12Z. A clearing trend this morning, with mid level clouds 12k-16k ft MSL developing again after 14/18Z and SCT -SHRA/-TSRA developing after 14/20Z from the KTUS/KOLS area eastward. Winds east- southeast 15-22 kts around TAF sites, with lighter winds west. Thunderstorms could produce another round of strong outflow winds this afternoon and evening. Aviation discussion not updated for TAF amendments. && .FIRE WEATHER...Moisture will spread across southeast Arizona from the through the end of the week. This will lead to scattered showers and thunderstorms each afternoon/evening. The main threats will be strong, gusty and erratic outflow winds and lightning strikes causing new fire starts. Initially, thunderstorms further west from the NM border will likely be mostly dry except directly under rather small rain cores today, with storms as far west as eastern Pima and Pinal counties. Monday into the rest of the week storms will have a better chance of producing some rainfall, however dry lightning around the edges of the storms is a decent bet (although humidity levels will be higher). Winds will be from the east to southeast at least as far west as Tucson with more variable and at times westerly afternoon winds west of Tucson. The moist pattern with scattered afternoon showers and storms looks to linger through the coming workweek and possibly into next weekend. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && Meyer Visit us on Facebook...Twitter...YouTube...and at weather.gov/Tucson
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:31 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed a power line. The line was struck by a train, causing a power pole to fall across Aviation Highway. Winds also downed a small tree at Golf Links and Swan.
A thunderstorm gust to 76 mph was recorded at Muleshoe Ranch RAWS in northwest Cochise County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, May 2023
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: 1103530, 1103531.