Arizona, 2025Cold in Arizona, March 19, 2025
March 19, 2025 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone
Cold morning temperatures near normal across Southeastern Arizona. A weather station in Rio Rico reached a low temperature of 26 degrees Fahrenheit.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
Cold morning temperatures near normal across Southeastern Arizona. A weather station in Rio Rico reached a low temperature of 26 degrees Fahrenheit. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that hypothermia was the primary factor in the cause of death for an individual in Rio Rico.
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 Mar 18, 1:23 PM MST, 10 hours 37 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 18, 1:23 PM MST, 10 hours 37 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
123 PM MST Tue Mar 18 2025
.SYNOPSIS...
Windy, cooler, dry and dusty conditions today will give way to
a warming trend the rest of this week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Very impressive satellite imagery and web cam footage this
afternoon are showing areas of blowing dust spread across the
Willcox Playa and into almost all of New Mexico. Thus, we issued a
Dust Advisory covering large portions of Cochise County across the
I-10 corridor.
The strong westerly winds combined with RH of 10-15 percent and
dry fuels have setup critical fire weather conditions east of
Tucson this afternoon, thus a Red Flag Warning remains in effect.
Winds should begin to decrease around sunset as the an upper level trough
moves into New Mexico and boundary layer mixing decreases.
In the wake of the trough Wednesday, brief ridging will be in
place, allowing temperatures to warm some but remaining a few
degrees below normal. Thursday and into the weekend, a couple of
troughs will pass north of the area keeping southeast Arizona in
zonal flow. Temperatures will generally run 3-7 degrees above
normal during this time frame.
Looking into early next week ensembles show a ridge building into
the desert southwest which will further increase temperatures.
Because of this it's looking like Tucson has a good chance to see
its first 90 degree high of 2025 by early to mid next week.
&&
.AVIATION...
Areas south and east of KSAD may see FEW-SCT clouds at 7k-10k ft
AGL with some potential blowing dust this afternoon. The strongest
winds will be east of KTUS in the vicinity of KSAD, KALK and
KDUG. Winds begin to decrease after 19/03Z with speeds becoming
7-10 kts. Aviation discussion not updated for TAF Amendments. &&
.FIRE WEATHER...
Expect wind speeds of 20-30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph for the
rest of the afternoon, with the strongest winds occuring east of
Tucson. Critical fire conditions are expected in the lower
elevations of Graham, Greenlee, Cochise, eastern Santa Cruz, and
eastern Pinal counties this afternoon. A Red Flag Warning has been
issued from 1 pm to 8 pm MST for all of Fire Weather Zone 152 and
eastern portions of Fire Weather Zone 151. RH values will fall
below 15 percent by 1 pm and bottom out in the 9 to 14 percent
range between 1 pm and 8 pm MST Tuesday.
Warmer weather returns starting on Wednesday, with above normal
temperatures by Thursday and continuing into the weekend. Dry
conditions will prevail Wednesday into at least the first half of
next week. Elevated southwest to west winds will occur on
Saturday, with speeds of around 15-20 mph and gusts to around 30
mph. Otherwise, wind speeds will mainly be less than 15 mph and
terrain driven from Thursday through early next week.
&&
.TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Wind Advisory until 6 PM MST this evening for AZZ507>513.
Red Flag Warning until 8 PM MST this evening for AZZ151-152.
&&
Public...Singer
Aviation...Singer
Fire Weather....Singer
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In the hours before
Local storm report, Mar 18, 6:55 PM MST, 5 hours 5 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
655 PM MST Tue Mar 18 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1203 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 10 S Clifton 32.89N 109.31W
03/18/2025 M55 MPH Greenlee AZ AWOS
Guthrie RAWS peak wind gust of 55 mph.
&&
LJTLocal storm report, Mar 18, 7:07 PM MST, 4 hours 53 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Tucson AZ
707 PM MST Tue Mar 18 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1148 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 NNW Sierra Vista 31.58N 110.33W
03/18/2025 M46 MPH Cochise AZ ASOS
Fort Huachuca - Libby Army Air Field peak
wind gust of 46 mph.
&&
LJTCold/Wind Chill, Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys
- When
- March 19, 12:00 AM MST to 10:00 AM MST
- Where
- Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- County Official
- Coordinates
- 31.812, -111.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold morning temperatures near normal across Southeastern Arizona. A weather station in Rio Rico reached a low temperature of 26 degrees Fahrenheit. The Pima County Medical Examiner confirmed that hypothermia was the primary factor in the cause of death for an individual in Rio Rico.
- Cold/Wind Chill
- Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Tornado and Hail in Indiana, March 19, 2025$1.8 million · EF2 · 30 events
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, March 19, 2025$297,000 · EF1 · 11 events
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Indiana, March 19, 2025$281,000 · EF0 · 13 events
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, March 19, 20251 injured · EF1 · 41 events
- Wildfire and High Wind in Missouri, March 19 to 21, 20252 injured · $41,000 · 60 kt wind · 22 events
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, March 19, 2025EF1 · 36 events
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Indiana, March 19, 20251 injured · EF1 · 15 events
- Blizzard and Hail in Iowa, March 19, 20251.25 in hail · 41 events
- Blizzard and High Wind in Nebraska, March 19, 202567 kt wind · 38 events
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, March 19, 2025$33,000 · 61 kt wind · 10 events
- High Wind and Strong Wind in Illinois, March 19, 2025$19,000 · 57 kt wind · 19 events
- Strong Wind in Kentucky, March 19, 2025$18,000 · 18 events
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: 1245573.