Greater Phoenix Area storm history

Strong high pressure aloft developed over the desert southwest and this lead to a prolonged period of excessive heat across the central Arizona deserts during the second half of June 2017. High temperatures each day routinely reached or exceeded 112 degrees, occasionally breaking…

Near normal summer heat occurred in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area on September 9th, the high in Phoenix was 103 compared to the normal of 102. Despite the near-normal nature of the heat, a man from Switzerland who was not used to triple digit heat died while hiking Camelb…

Strong high pressure developed across south central Arizona, including the greater Phoenix area, during the day on July 22nd leading to excessive heat over the lower deserts. The official high temperature at Phoenix reached to 112 degrees. The heat proved to be deadly; according …

Excessive heat developed across the south central deserts deserts, including the greater Phoenix area, on Friday July 22nd and the high temperature at Phoenix officially reached 112 degrees. An Excessive Heat Warning was in effect during the afternoon hours as a result of the dan…

Unusually strong high pressure aloft developed across Arizona during the middle of June, beginning Saturday June 18th and persisting into next week. The strong high pressure, combined with dry air and sunny skies, led to very dangerous heat across the greater Phoenix area on Sund…

Strong high pressure aloft developed during the first weekend of June, and on June 2nd, high temperatures reached to 110 degrees across the south central Arizona deserts, including the greater Phoenix area. The high temperature at Sky Harbor Airport was 109 degrees. As a result o…

A Pacific low pressure system and associated cold front moved to the northeast and across the central Arizona deserts during the day on May 26th. The frontal passage produced occasional strong and gusty winds, with peak gusts estimated to be in excess of 35 mph. According to the …

On the morning of September 11th, a 31 year old Missouri man and his friend decided to hike up South Mountain. The Missouri man was in town to watch the ASU/Missouri football game on Saturday the 10th. The two men went hiking in South Mountain Preserve Sunday morning and left wit…

Strong high pressure and a dry airmass led to excessive heat over the lower deserts of Arizona, starting Monday August 22nd and continuing through the end of the month. The hottest days during the heat wave were the first five, Monday through Friday, when the highs at Phoenix ran…

Prolonged heat throughout much of the month of July contributed to 10 heat-caused deaths, according to the Maricopa County medical examiner. July 2009 was not only the hottest July on record but the hottest month of all-time in Phoenix. Records for Phoenix began in 1896. There we…

Very warm temperatures were reported throughout Maricopa County. Low temperatures in Phoenix for the first three days of August were records: 95, 91 and 89 degrees. There were 2 heat-related deaths reported in the county during this period.

This was the third warmest July on record in Phoenix. The average monthly temperature was 97.3 degrees, just 4 tenths of a degree shy of the record warmest July which was set in 2003. The average maximum temperature for the month was 109.5 compared to a normal of 106.6 degrees. S…

Strong thunderstorms developed to the southeast of the greater Phoenix area during the afternoon hours on July 5. As the storms dissipated and moved towards the northwest, rain-cooled outflows picked up copious amounts of dust and dirt and generated a massive haboob which raced n…

A strong high pressure system resulted in record highs across the deserts. Phoenix tied the record on June 21 when the temperature hit 115 degrees. The average June temperature in Phoenix was 93.2 degrees, making it the fifth hottest June on record. In Maricopa County alone, 6 he…

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 greater Phoenix metropolitan area. The low temperature …

A hard freeze occurred during the mornings of February 3rd and 4th; many locations across the greater Phoenix area experienced several hours at or below 28 degrees. Phoenix Sky Harbor reported low temperatures of 30 degrees on both mornings, and these lows were near record values…

Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms moved east across portions of south central Arizona during the morning hours and they resulted in patchy dense fog and low clouds over higher terrain areas to the east of Phoenix. According to a report from the general public, at about…

Scattered thunderstorms developed across the greater Phoenix area during the evening hours on September 5th and some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The winds stirred up significant amounts of dust and created dust storm conditions which p…

Strong thunderstorms developed across the far northern portions of the greater Phoenix area during the mid afternoon hours, and they produced strong gusty outflow winds as high as 60 mph. The gusty winds spread south into the greater Phoenix area and stirred up areas of dense blo…

Strong gusty winds developed across the greater Phoenix area during the evening hours on March 30th due to an approaching strong weather system. The strong gusts caused areas of blowing dust and led to the issuances of blowing dust advisories and wind advisories. At 2124MST a tra…

Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms developed and moved into the central portion of the greater Phoenix area from the southeast during the early morning hours on November 3rd. The showers generated strong and gusty outflow winds which spread north into portions of Scotts…

Evening thunderstorms on August 24th produced gusty outflow winds as high as 40 mph which impacted portions of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, especially dust-prone areas to the southeast of central Phoenix. The gusty winds stirred up dense blowing dust resulting in dust s…

Thunderstorms developed over portions of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the afternoon hours on August 21st and some of them produced gusty outflow winds reaching 40 mph in strength. The gusty winds stirred up large amounts of dust and created areas of dust storm con…

Thunderstorms developed across portions of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the late afternoon hours on August 20th and they generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The strong wind stirred up dense blowing dust, creating dust storm conditions that affected …

Strong thunderstorms developed over the eastern portion of the greater Phoenix area, including Apache Junction, during the late morning hours on August 9th and they produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The winds overspread much of the greater Phoenix area and they st…

Strong thunderstorms over north Scottsdale produced gusty outflow winds which generated areas of dense blowing dust during the early to mid afternoon hours on August 3rd. According to a trained weather spotter located 4 miles south of North Scottsdale, at 1435MST visibility dropp…

Thunderstorms developed across the central and eastern mountains during the afternoon hours on July 29th and they moved into the south central deserts during the evening hours. The stronger storms generated strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph which, as they moved acros…

During the evening hours, dense blowing dust spread northward out of the central deserts and into the southern and southeast portions of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Visibilities were reported to be one quarter mile or less and the associated dust storm created hazardou…

Isolated thunderstorms developed across the greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the early afternoon hours on October 16th, and the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. The strong outflow winds picked up considerable amounts of dust and dirt, crea…

Scattered thunderstorms developed across south central Arizona during the late afternoon hours on August 25th, and some of them affected the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds reaching to nearly 50 mph; the strong winds gen…

Scattered thunderstorms developed during the morning hours on August 11th and they generated strong and gusty outflow winds which were measured to be in excess of 50 mph at times. Due to dry ground conditions, the gusty winds were able to pick up large amounts of dust and dirt an…

A second round of thunderstorms developed across south central Arizona during the evening hours on August 11th, and the stronger storms produced strong gusty winds in excess of 50 mph at times. The strong winds stirred up significant amounts of dust and led to dust storm conditio…

Gusty winds occurred over the greater Phoenix area during the evening hours, associated with the passage of a cold and vigorous Pacific low pressure system. The westerly gusts were strong enough to cause minor tree damage. According to a public report, at 2110MST wind gusts measu…

A wet Pacific low pressure system moved across the central Arizona deserts on January 31st and then exited to the east. Ample lingering surface moisture combined with light wind and clearing skies to allow for widespread dense fog across the greater Phoenix area during the mornin…

Areas of dense fog developed during the morning hours on January 14th across the very far southeastern portion of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Visibilities dropped below one quarter of a mile at times and led to hazardous driving conditions for area motorists, especiall…

A deep and cold upper level low pressure system moved through Arizona over the New Year's holiday period and ushered in freezing temperatures to the central deserts which persisted through the morning hours on January 3rd. According to the Deer Valley and Scottsdale ASOS stations…

A deep and cold upper level low pressure system moved through Arizona over the New Year's holiday period and ushered in freezing temperatures to the central deserts on January 1st. According to the Deer Valley ASOS, the low temperature on the 1st was 31 degrees. Many locations ac…

A deep and cold upper level low pressure system moved through Arizona over the New Year's holiday period and ushered in freezing temperatures to the central deserts; the freezing temperatures continued on January 2nd. According to the Scottsdale and Deer Valley ASOS stations, the…

A very cold upper level low pressure system moved into the lower deserts of central Arizona during late December, and ushered in freezing conditions during the morning hours on December 27th. Freezing or subfreezing temperatures occurred over much of the greater Phoenix metropoli…

Intense thunderstorms developed across the greater Phoenix area during the late evening hours on July 26th, and they produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph which primarily affected northern and central portions of the Phoenix area. The gusty winds created dust storm con…

Thunderstorms developed across the central deserts during the late afternoon hours on July 25th, and due to favorable atmospheric conditions, were able to generate strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 40 mph. The gusty winds picked up significant amounts of dust and caused dus…

Thunderstorms developed across the central deserts during the late evening hours, and they produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. Despite locally heavy rains earlier in the evening, the winds were still able to pick up significant amounts of dust and create dust storm …

Thunderstorms developed across southern Pinal county during the afternoon hours on July 3rd, and due to favorable atmospheric conditions, they were able to generate strong gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. These gusty winds spread to the northwest, picking up massive amoun…

A vigorous upper level low pressure system moving through the desert southwest generated gusty west winds across the central Arizona deserts during the afternoon and evening hours on April 26th. Some of the wind gusts were in excess of 40 mph, and were sufficient to cause isolate…

A vigorous upper level low pressure system moving through the desert southwest generated gusty west winds across the central Arizona deserts during the afternoon and evening hours on April 26th. Some of the wind gusts were in excess of 45 mph, and were sufficient to cause isolate…

Isolated thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours across southwest Maricopa and northern Pinal counties, and they generated gusty outflow winds in excess of 30 mph. The winds spread into the southern portions of the greater Phoenix area, and due to the very dry conditio…

Isolated afternoon thunderstorms developed across the south central deserts on September 6th, and they affected portions of the greater Phoenix area including Scottsdale. Due to the very hot and somewhat dry conditions, the thunderstorms generated gusty outflow winds of at least …

Intense thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours to the south of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, and they produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. The winds spread to the north and into the greater Phoenix area by about 1800MST, and as they moved in they…

Strong thunderstorms developed across northern Pinal county during the early afternoon hours on July 12th, and they produced gusty winds in excess of 50 mph which spread to the north and northwest and into the greater Phoenix area. As the winds spread out they picked up substanti…

During the early morning hours on July 2nd, isolated thunderstorms developed across northwest Pinal county and they moved westward across portions of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. The storms generated gusty winds in excess of 40 mph and produced patchy dense blowing dust…