A late afternoon severe thunderstorm resulted in trees down in Tucson. Thereafter, a late evening thunderstorm resulted in an EF-1 tornado on the southeast side of Tucson.
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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.
A late afternoon severe thunderstorm resulted in trees down in Tucson. Thereafter, a late evening thunderstorm resulted in an EF-1 tornado on the southeast side of Tucson.
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 2, 2:46 PM MST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tucson AZ 246 PM MST Tue Jul 2 2024 .SYNOPSIS...Chances of showers and thunderstorms today through Wednesday, then gradually diminishing during the rest of the week. Some storms will generate strong winds and locally heavy rainfall. With high pressure building in from the northwest, daytime temperatures will be trending hotter Friday into at least early next week. && .DISCUSSION...Relatively deep moisture remains in place today with precipitable water values ranging from 1.3 to 1.6 inches and surface dewpoints in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Storms are well supported in valley locations this afternoon as expected, with brief pulse severe and heavy rain leading to localized flooding issues. Coverage will diminish after sunset, however we'll need to keep an eye on potential strong outflow from organized convection in northern Sonora. Wednesday should be another day for scattered thunderstorms across much of the area. By Thursday, strong high pressure will build into the desert southwest from the west coast, resulting in an unfavorable pattern for moisture along with hotter temperatures. Moisture trends will definitely be down as a drier northwesterly flow begins to push the deepest moisture southward, but the question is how fast and how much? This will factor into both the thunderstorm forecast and the heat forecast. We're likely to hold on to enough moisture to keep a daily chance of convection near the international border, but areas as far north as Tucson will get iffy at times late in the week into early next week. Sonora should stay pretty active, which means we'll likely see some outflow moisture counter the drying trend in portions of SE AZ. That makes potential excessive heat headlines a little more problematic. It's likely that we won't need them across Santa Cruz and Cochise counties as they maintain the most moisture and best convection chances. The ebb and flow of our area on the edge of deepest moisture makes it a tougher call. Even forecasting a few degrees above the NBM makes some of the days Saturday into Monday marginal as far north as Tucson and Safford. The pattern is going to be much less favorable for storms, but the flow may not be strong enough to scour us out. && .AVIATION...Valid through 04/00Z. SCT- BKN clouds at 7k-10k ft AGL. ISOLD- SCT TSRA/SHRA between until 03/05Z. MVFR conditions near TSRA, with mountain obscurations, VSBY restrictions and gusts to 40+ knots. Otherwise, outside of TSRA outflows SFC wind generally 10 kts or less, favoring a WLY/NWLY direction during the afternoon/early evening and variable in direction at other times. Aviation discussion not updated for TAF amendments. && .FIRE WEATHER...There will be the daily chance for isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms mainly from Tucson east and south through the end of the week, with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms along the International Border this weekend into early next week. High pressure aloft will build to our northwest late this week into early next week, which will result in drier and hot conditions. The deeper moisture will get pushed south and east of the region late this week into early next week, with Min RH values lowering into the 10-18% range across the lower elevations and 15-30% in the higher elevations. High temperature will warm considerably late this week through the weekend, with highs 106-113 degrees from Tucson westward and in the Gila River Valley, and in the upper 90s to 105 degrees across Santa Cruz and Cochise counties. Excessive Heat will likely be an issue during this time frame. Outside of any thunderstorm outflow winds, 20-foot winds will generally be 15 mph or less each afternoon with the occasional gust of 20-25 mph. && .TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && Visit us on Facebook...Twitter...YouTube...and at weather.gov/Tucson
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
221 PM MST Tue Jul 2 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0206 PM Tstm Wnd Gst 21 ENE Willcox 32.32N 109.48W
07/02/2024 M64 MPH Cochise AZ Mesonet
&&The Tucson radar (KEMX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:10 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous trees reported down in the areas of Oracle Rd and Wetmore Rd in Tucson and near Euclid St and Waverly in Tucson.
A tornado with a maximum intensity of EF-1 developed in the vicinity of the Amazon Fulfillment Center near Kolb Road and Valencia Road. The tornado tracked towards the east-southeast, generally parallel to Valencia Road, and ended near Valencia Road and Frost Drive. Damage along the tornado path included many downed, snapped and uprooted trees, roof damage (primarily to tiles). Additionally, a large shipping container was moved and flipped on its side. The shipping container damaged a chain-link fence.
Damage consistent with EF-1 rating was just south of Valencia Road near Old Vail Road and included large trees uprooted. Maximum estimated winds are 100 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arizona, 2024Warnings in Arizona, July 2024
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: 1179226, 1179238.