Name: Heat in Arizona, July 3 to 4, 2024
Start: 2024-07-03T10:00
End: 2024-07-04T20:00
Location: Arizona

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 3
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

Hot temperatures typically 4 to 7 degrees above normal were experienced across portions of southeast Arizona July 3 through July 4. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that heat was the primary cause of death for two individuals found in the desert on the Tohono O'odham Nation on July 3 and July 4. Additionally, heat was a contributing factor of death for an individual in Tucson on July 3.

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 Jul 3, 3:02 AM MST, 6 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 3:02 AM MST, 6 hours 58 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

4 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Tohono O Odham Nation

When: July 3, 10:00 AM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Tohono O Odham Nation forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: County Official
Coordinates: 32.501, -111.567 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hot temperatures about 4 to 7 degrees above normal were experienced on the Tohono O'odham Nation, causing the Moderate Heat Risk category to be reached. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that heat was the primary factor in the death of one individual found in the desert near Topowa.

Heat, Tucson Metro Area

When: July 3, 10:00 AM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Tucson Metro Area forecast zone
Reported by: County Official
Coordinates: 32.097, -111.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hot temperatures about 4 to 7 degrees above normal were experienced in Tucson on July 3rd, causing the Moderate Heat Risk category to be reached. The high temperature in Tucson was 106 degrees. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that heat was a contributing factor in the death of one individual found at their residence in Tucson.

Heat, Tucson Metro Area

When: July 3, 10:00 AM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Tucson Metro Area forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by: County Official
Coordinates: 32.097, -111.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hot temperatures about 4 to 7 degrees above normal were experienced in Tucson on July 3rd, causing the Moderate Heat Risk category to be reached. The high temperature in Tucson was 106 degrees. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that heat was a contributing factor in the death of one individual found at their residence in Tucson.

Heat, Tohono O Odham Nation

When: July 4, 10:00 AM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Tohono O Odham Nation forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: County Official
Coordinates: 32.501, -111.567 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hot temperatures about 4 to 7 degrees above normal were experienced on the Tohono O'odham Nation, causing the Moderate Heat Risk category to be reached. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that heat was the primary factor in the death of one individual found in the desert near Sells.

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
Heat, Tohono O Odham Nation	2024-07-03	36	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct
Heat, Tucson Metro Area	2024-07-03	72	Female	Mobile/Trailer Home	Indirect
Heat, Tohono O Odham Nation	2024-07-04		Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

What these are

Heat: Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2024 Every state in 2024 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, July 2024

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: 1193776, 1193781, 1193782, 1193777.