Central Deserts storm history

Very strong high pressure aloft developed across Arizona during the middle of June 2016, beginning on Saturday June 18th and persisting into early next week. In combination with dry air and sunny skies, the strong high pressure led to the development of dangerous heat across the …

Areas of dense fog developed in the Casa Grande areas during the early morning hours on January 14th, due to lingering moisture from a recent wet weather system combined with clear skies. Visibilities occasionally dropped to just a few hundred yards as reported by both local law …

Extreme heat developed across the central Arizona deserts on Wednesday, June 12th and it led to the issuance of an Excessive Heat Warning which ran from 10 am until 8 pm. High temperatures reached to around 110 degrees over the hotter deserts; in fact the official high temperatur…

Maricopa County officials reported one heat caused death late in June. A 21 month old girl died after being left in a car in Phoenix. Temperatures in Phoenix were several degrees above average, and the highs reached 113 degrees on the 24th and the 30th.

A sudden drop in visibility due to local blowing dust contributed to a massive pileup in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 on Tuesday morning. Winds at the time of the accident were estimated to be about 40 mph. About 9 trucks and 13 automobiles were involved in the accidents.…

A very cold airmass settled in across the desert southwest from Saturday January 12th through Wednesday January 16th. The cold and relatively dry conditions led to widespread freezing and sub-freezing temperatures across the central deserts, including the communities of San Tan V…

Scattered thunderstorms developed across the southeastern portions of the greater Phoenix area during the afternoon hours on August 27th and some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds reaching as high as 50 mph. The gusty winds produced patchy dense blowing dust tha…

Isolated thunderstorms developed over the central deserts during the evening hours on August 4th, and some of them produced gusty outflow winds reaching speeds of at least 40 mph. The strong winds picked up dust and dirt and created dense blowing dust, sufficient to briefly cause…

Scattered thunderstorms developed across the greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the late afternoon hours on July 29th and some of the stronger storms generated gusty outflow winds that reached to around 50 mph. The winds were sufficiently strong as to stir up areas of dense…

Strong thunderstorms developed across the southeast portion of the greater Phoenix area during the late afternoon hours on July 21st, and some of them produced gusty outflow winds estimated to be at least 40 mph in strength. The winds were sufficient to stir up localized areas of…

Scattered thunderstorms developed over portions of the central deserts, and they produced gusty outflow winds which reached as high as 40 mph. The gusty winds produced areas of dense blowing dust near the town of Ak-Chin in western Pinal County. According to a public report, at 1…

Afternoon thunderstorms developed to the southeast of Phoenix on July 15th and some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The strong winds moved across the lower deserts of northwest Pinal County and stirred up areas of dense blowing dust; visib…

Strong thunderstorms developed in the Tucson area during the late afternoon on July 9th and they produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph which spread northward and into the central deserts during the evening hours. The gusty winds resulted in dust storm conditions in the…

Strong gusty southwest winds developed across the greater Phoenix area during the afternoon and evening hours on April 25th in response to a strong Pacific weather system approaching from the west. Some of the stronger gusts were in excess of 40 mph and they were sufficient to bl…

Lingering low level moisture and mostly clear skies led to the formation of patchy dense fog across the southern portion of the greater Phoenix area during the morning hours on January 17th. At 0747MST, a trained spotter reported dense fog at the intersection of the Hunt Highway …

Thunderstorms developed across portions of the central deserts during the late afternoon hours on August 30th and some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds as high as 40 mph. The gusty winds stirred up dense blowing dust in favored dust-prone areas to the southeast…

Thunderstorms developed across portions of the central deserts during the evening hours on August 24th and some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds reaching as high as 40 mph. The winds stirred up dense blowing dust across favored dust prone areas to the southeast…

Thunderstorms developed across portions of the central deserts during the afternoon hours on August 21st, and some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. As has often been the case this summer, winds of this magnitude were sufficient to cause are…

Strong thunderstorms affected south central Arizona during the late afternoon hours on August 20th, and they produced gusty outflow winds across Pinal county that were in excess of 40 mph. The winds stirred up large amounts of dust and created dust storm conditions that impacted …

Thunderstorms developed over the eastern portion of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, including the community of Apache Junction, during the late morning hours on August 9th. The storms generated gusty winds in excess of 40 mph which spread south and across the central deser…

Thunderstorms developed over the central and eastern Arizona mountains during the afternoon hours on July 29th, and they moved into the central deserts during the evening hours, bringing gusty winds in excess of 50 mph. The strong wind blowing across the desert floor created a si…

During the late afternoon hours on July 19th, areas of dense blowing dust spread northwestward across portions of the central deserts including the area around Casa Grande. The dense blowing dust lowered visibility below one quarter of a mile, creating dust storm conditions and r…

Strong thunderstorms developed across the higher terrain of east and southeast Arizona during the afternoon hours on July 18th and some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. These winds spread towards the northwest, picking up large amounts of d…

Strong thunderstorms developed over the far southeast portion of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the late afternoon hours on September 12th, and they generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. The winds spread to the southeast and generated areas of dense blo…

Isolated to scattered thunderstorms developed across portions of south central Arizona, including northwest Pinal county, during the late afternoon hours on August 25th. Some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph and these strong winds picked up …

Thunderstorms developed across portions of south central Arizona during the evening hours on August 23rd, and the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 45 mph. The strong winds stirred up significant amounts of dust, leading to dust storm conditions across the…

Scattered thunderstorms developed across south central Arizona during the morning hours on August 11th and they generated gusty outflow winds that were measured in excess of 50 mph at times. The gusty winds stirred up significant amounts of dust and created dust storm conditions …

Thunderstorms developed over portions of south central Arizona during the early afternoon hours on July 31st, and they generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The gusty winds produced locally dense blowing dust which affected the community of San Tan Valley. According …

A wet Pacific weather system produced significant rain across the central deserts on January 31st and then exited to the east. Ample lingering low level moisture combined with clearing skies and light winds to produce areas of dense fog across much of northwest Pinal county durin…

Areas of dense fog developed in the Casa Grande area during the early morning hours on January 14th, a result of lingering low level moisture from a recent wet winter storm combined with clear skies. According to local law enforcement, visibility dropped to a few hundred feet acr…

Thunderstorms developed to the southeast of the greater Phoenix area during the afternoon hours on September 6th, and they generated strong and gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. The winds spread to the northwest and moved across portions of northwest Pinal county, stirring…

Thunderstorms developed across the central deserts during the late afternoon hours on July 25th, and they generated strong and gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The winds led to dust storm conditions across portions of northern and central Pinal county, including communiti…

Thunderstorms developed across portions of Pinal county during the evening hours on July 8th, and they generated strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The winds created dust storm conditions across the central deserts, and led to the issuance of a Dust Storm Warning fro…

Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours across southern Pinal county, and due to favorable environmental conditions, they generated strong outflow winds to around 50 mph. The outflow winds spread to the northwest and picked up massive amounts of dust, creating dust sto…

Isolated thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours across portions of northern Pinal county, and they produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 30 mph. The gusty winds picked up significant amounts of dust and generated dust storm conditions in the area around Casa Grand…

A deep and strong upper level low pressure system developed over the desert southwest on October 9th and it led to the development of strong and gusty west winds over the central deserts during the afternoon and evening hours. Gusty winds estimated to be in excess of 40 mph gener…

Intense thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours to the south of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, and they generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. The strong winds spread to the north and across portions of northwest Pinal county, stirring up copious am…

Excessive heat persisted across the southern Arizona deserts on July 2nd, and this led to the development of isolated strong and high based thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours. After about 830 pm, gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph produced dust storm condit…

Excessive daytime heating combined with some mid level moisture to produce isolated high based thunderstorms across the central deserts during the evening hours on June 30th. At about 9 pm, a strong thunderstorm developed near Toltec and this storm produced strong gusty winds in …

A very strong upper level high pressure system developed across the desert southwest during the last few days of June, and this led to excessive heat across the central Arizona deserts, beginning on June 28 and continuing through the end of the month. High temperatures at Coolidg…

Very strong high pressure aloft was situated across Arizona on June 12th, and it led to excessive heat across the south central Arizona deserts, including the central deserts of northern Pinal county. According to the official COOP observation at Maricopa 4N, the high temperature…

A powerful spring storm moved across the desert southwest during the day on April 8th, and it led to strong, gusty and damaging southwest to west winds across the southwest Arizona deserts. A Wind Advisory was issued for Yuma county beginning at 10 AM and it continued through 8 p…

Strong thunderstorms developed to the south and southwest of Casa Grande during the afternoon hours on September 2, and the storms produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The winds spread to the north and stirred up considerable dust and dirt, creating dust storm condit…

Isolated to scattered thunderstorms developed during the early evening hours across south central Arizona, and they generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 35 mph which spread westward across northwest Pinal county. The gusty winds stirred up significant amounts of dust and di…

Thunderstorms developed across southeast Arizona during the afternoon hours on August 11th. Due to the excessive heat and dry conditions, the storms were able to generate very strong and gusty outflow winds, well in excess of 40 mph. The gusty winds spread to the northwest, acros…

Isolated strong thunderstorms developed across southwest Maricopa county during the early afternoon hours on July 31st. The storms generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 35 mph which moved to the northeast and into the central deserts, including portions of northwest Pinal co…

Early afternoon thunderstorms developed across southeast Arizona on July 22nd and they produced gusty outflow winds up to 40 mph. The gusty winds spread to the northwest and into the central deserts and created dust storm conditions. At 235 pm, the Department of Public Safety rep…

Scattered thunderstorms developed across southeast Arizona during the afternoon hours on July 21st. The storms produced strong outflow winds in excess of 40 mph which spread northwest across the deserts of northern Pinal county. The gusty winds picked up copious amounts of dust a…

Strong thunderstorms developed over southeastern Arizona during the afternoon hours on June 27th. Gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph spread to the northwest across portions of northern Pinal county and generated dust storm conditions. At 626 pm, a trained spotter in Coolidge…

Strong thunderstorms developed over southeastern Arizona during the middle of the afternoon on June 16th, and they produced gusty outflow winds as high as 45 mph. The winds pushed to the northeast, picking up substantial amounts of dust and dirt and a dust storm was generated. At…